Karabakh peace mediators to start regional trip on Oct. 22

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are arriving in the South Caucasus on Saturday, the US co-chair of the mission, Ambassador James Warlick, said in an exclusive interview with Tert.am.

“The co-chairs will be arriving in the region on Saturday,” he said, describing the trip as a good opportunity to follow up on the summit meetings in Vienna and St Petersburg and continue discussions on elements of a settlement. 

As for the possible timeframes of new Armenian-Azerbaijani top-level talks, the diplomat said, “Our hope is that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will agree to meet in the near future.  We are happy to facilitate such a meeting but, of course, the decision rests with them.  We believe such dialogue at the highest level is necessary to make progress towards a settlement.”

Asked to comment on the Azerbaijani president’s recent statement promising a compromise-based solution, Mr Warlick highlighted the importance of a mutual political will to reach a breakthrough. “It is up to the sides to agree on the elements of a settlement. These elements have been under discussion for many years and the time has come for the Presidents to demonstrate the political will necessary to bring about a lasting peace,” he said.