HELSINKI, 9 June 2008 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, met the three Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in Helsinki on Monday to discuss developments related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of the Russian Federation, Ambassador Bernard Fassier of France and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza of the United States, along with Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, briefed Minister Stubb on recent developments, in particular on the meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on 7 June in St. Petersburg.

Minister Stubb expressed his full support for the work of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. "Conflict resolution in the OSCE area is a key priority of the Finnish Chairmanship. I encourage Armenia and Azerbaijan to make full use of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs' facilitation and to consider seriously the proposal for the basic principles for resolving the conflict. There is no alternative to a peaceful resolution of the conflict," he said.