OSCE MG Co-chairs: The heads of Armenia and Azerbaijan expressed  readiness to restore political dialogue on Artsakh

ArmInfo. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov (Russia), Richard Hoagland (USA), Stefan Visconti (France) made a joint statement following the visit to the region.

According to the message, received by ArmInfo, during the visit, the  mediators were accompanied by Personal Representative of the OSCE  Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

"The main goal of the co-chairs' visit to the region is to discuss  the sides' position on the next steps aimed at a peaceful settlement  of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict after a trilateral meeting at the  level of the Foreign Ministers in Moscow (April 28), and also get  acquainted with the general situation in the conflict zone," the  mediators said.

The co-chairs note that they held meetings with the leadership of  Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the de facto authorities of  Nagorno-Karabakh. "The mediators also visited a number of territories  around Nagorno-Karabakh, including Kovsakan, Sanasar, Berdzor and  Qarvachar, and also met with the Azerbaijani community of  Nagorno-Karabakh in Baku. At their talks in Baku, the co-chairs  expressed deep concern over the recent violations of the ceasefire  regime that occurred on the eve of their visit to the region and led  to yet another casualty on the contact line of the troops. The  mediators urged the leadership of Azerbaijan to avoid further  escalation of the situation. With the same message, the mediators  turned to the Armenian leadership and the de facto authorities of  Nagorno-Karabakh. They recommended that the parties explore measures  that will reduce tension on the contact line and on the  Armenian-Azerbaijani state border," the statement reads.

At the same time, it is stressed that in Yerevan and Baku, the  mediators called on the parties to start negotiations on the merits,  in good faith and with the political will. They are convinced that  this is the only way to achieve lasting peace for the people of the  region who need and are waiting for progress in the conflict  settlement.

"The presidents expressed their intention to resume the political  dialogue with a view to finding a compromise on the most contentious  issues of the settlement. The co-chairs will leave for Vienna on July  3 to inform the members of the Minsk Group about the outcome of the  visit. They also plan to meet with the foreign ministers of  Azerbaijan and Armenia soon to discuss the terms of the forthcoming  work," the mediators said in a statement.