Mandate of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on Karabakh settlement no longer relevant: Zakharova

YEREVAN, 25 December. /ARKA/. All structures of the OSCE Minsk Conference, i.e. the Minsk Group and the High-Level Planning Group (HLPG) should be dissolved, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said today.

'The mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement approved by the OSCE has lost its relevance. And it all started with the blocking of the work of this format by the West, and then there were changes that occurred on the ground,' Zakharova said at a press briefing in response to a question about a recent statement of the Azerbaijani President that the OSCE Minsk Group should be dissolved.

According to her, the Russian side believes that ‘the best way to make appropriate decisions in this regard is a joint proposal of Baku and Yerevan to liquidate the relevant institutions.’

Zakharova said that the US and French co-chairs of the Minsk Group ceased communication with their Russian colleague in February 2022, and did so proactively.

‘Communication ceased with Armenia's recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Azerbaijan following the outcome of the Armenia-Azerbaijan-EU-France summit on 6 October 2022 in Prague and the drastic change of the situation on the ground in September 2023,’ Zakharova said.

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the idea of disbanding the OSCE Minsk Group, repeatedly voiced by the Azerbaijani leader, 'constructive'.

‘If there is no conflict, what is the point of having a format dealing with conflict resolution,’ Pashinyan said, adding that the Armenian side wants to make sure that Baku has no territorial claims against Armenia.