Statement by Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Released

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia’s Igor Popov, France’s Stéphane Visconti, and the United States’ Andrew Schofer) released the following statement today.

The co-chairs held consultations on May 27 and 28 with President of the International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. The meeting was also attended by the personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The co-chairs acknowledge the news regarding the arrest of six Armenian servicemen on May 27 and call for the release of all prisoners of war and other detainees. They emphasize the obligation to treat detainees in accordance with international humanitarian law.

The co-chairs strongly urge the parties to immediately lift all restrictions on humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh and to fully implement the obligations they undertook under the November 9 ceasefire statement.

They express concern over several recent reports regarding incidents along the unmarked Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The use or threat of force to resolve border disputes is unacceptable. We call on both parties to take immediate steps, including troop movements, to de-escalate the situation and to initiate negotiations on the peaceful delimitation and demarcation of the border.

The co-chairs are ready to assist in facilitating this process. Given the terms of their OSCE mandate and the aspirations of all the region's inhabitants for a stable, peaceful, and prosperous future, the co-chairs again call on the parties to engage as soon as possible under their auspices.