OSCE Minsk Group urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric
After a meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group on Wednesday, its Co-Chairs (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office (PRCIO) Andrzej Kasprzyk, released the following statement:
In accordance with the information available, the situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border remains relatively calm as of early morning 15 July. The Co-Chairs and the PRCIO welcome the decrease in hostilities and appeal to the sides to make every effort to continue de-escalation.
The Co-Chairs urge the sides to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric and attempts to change the situation on the ground. The Co-Chairs continue to stress the necessity of building up an atmosphere conducive to the restoration of the peace process.
The Co-Chairs welcomed the confirmation of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to hold substantive negotiations on crucial aspects of a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement as soon as possible and emphasized the importance of returning OSCE monitors to the region as soon as circumstances allow.
This is the second statement by the Minsk Group after the situation escalated on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
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