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The change of the OSCE Minsk Group format is little probable, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan Sergey Kapinos told reporters today. To him, change of the format is dangerous. Kapinos assessed the current format as most optimal, the three represented powers – the USA, Russia and France - have their interests in the region.

“Three times the sides were about to sign an agreement: though, this failed to happen due to the conjuncture of a number of factors. We are at a responsible stage now and the mediators’ activity requires a very serious approach,” Kapinos said.

The Nagorno-Karabakh (armed) conflict broke out back in 1991, when, subsequent to the demand for self-determination of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, Azerbaijani authorities attempted to resolve the issue through ethnic cleansings, carried out by Soviet security forces (KGB special units) under the pretext of the implementation of the passport regime and by launching large-scale military operations, which left thousands dead and caused considerable material damage. A cease-fire agreement was established in 1994. Negotiations on the settlement of the conflict are being conducted under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs (Russia, USA, France) and on the basis of their Madrid proposals, presented in November, 2007.
Azerbaijan has not yet implemented the 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council adopted in 1993, by continuing to provoke arms race in the region and openly violating one of the basic principles of the international law non-use of force or threat of force.