Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meeting with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
“The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are committed to search for new solutions and the implementation of those mutually-agreed upon decisions for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a meeting of the Co-Chairs on September 27 in New York, reports the Russian RIA Novosti news agency.
“Ambassadors, representatives of the OSCE, I am very pleased about this opportunity to check the schedule and see that we can do more, in addition to the steps already taken to move forward in the process of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement,” Lavrov said at the beginning of the meeting.
“Each of the co-chairing countries is closely following this process, whether they are French or American initiatives or Russian efforts, taking into account our relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Russian Foreign Minister added.
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Four Armenian soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani artillery fire on September 25 on the north-eastern portion of the Karabakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact.
On the evening of September 24, as a result of heavy shelling by the Azerbaijani side, one civilian was killed in the village of Paravakar and two in the village of Berdavan in the Tavush region; another two civilians were injured.
The Minsk Group Co-Chairs issued a joint statement on September 25 “expressing their serious concerns about Armenian and Azerbaijani forces using mortars and heavy weapons in and around civilian areas.”
The Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met on September 25 in New York with the support of OSCE mediators and in their presence.
On September 26 statement the Co-Chairs called for the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan “to accept an OSCE mechanism to investigate ceasefire violations. Without such a mechanism, the sides will continue to blame each other for initiating deadly attacks on the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Armenia has agreed to discuss the details of the mechanism, and we urged Azerbaijan to do the same.”
On September 26 the Nagorno Karabakh Ministry of Defense released a statement which said that the Azerbaijani side “used Turkish-made TR-107 rocket launchers on the evening of September 25 and morning of September 26 and a D30 122mm howitzer. This was the first time since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in 1994, that such heavy artillery was utilized.
An earlier statement said that “the responsibility for any aftermaths stemming from the current situation will lie solely upon upon the Azerbaijani side, not any other part.”
The Defense Ministry of Armenia issued a statement that same day, where it said: “In order to suppress the opponent and prevent it from carrying out its measures, and thereby aiding the negotiation process, the Republic of Armenia’s Armed forces will hereafter utilize measures equivalent to its artillery and rocket strikes, keeping the subdivisions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, its maneuvers, military equipment and human resources permanently under fire.”
