On September 25, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who is in New York to take part in the work of the UN General Assembly, met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov of Russia, Stéphane Visconti of France, Andrew Schofer of the United States, and with Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.

Minister Mnatsakanyan reiterated Armenia’s commitment to an exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Foreign Minister of Armenia highlighted the importance of establishing an environment conducive to peace, stressing the necessity to refrain from steps leading to the escalation of the situation, and the aggressive rhetoric.

In this regard, Minister Mnatsakanyan drew the Co-Chairs’ attention to the regular attempts of Azerbaijan to escalate the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and on the Line of Contact with Artsakh, as result of which two soldiers from Armed Forces of Armenia and Artsakh Defense Army died. Civil population was also targeted. Minister underlined that such steps of Azerbaijan gravely undermine peace process especially on the eve of upcoming meeting between Foreign Ministers of the two countries under the mediation of Minsk group Co-Chairs.  

The interlocutors exchanged views with regards both the meeting of Foreign Ministers and other steps envisaged in Co-Chairs schedule.