OSCE Chairperson-in-Office welcomes humanitarian ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict context, supports resumption of substantive negotiations

VIENNA/TIRANA, 10 October 2020 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Albania’s Prime Minister and Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Edi Rama, welcomed news of a humanitarian ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict context. “We need stability, both on the ground and in the process led by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs,” Rama said. “The agreement reached in Moscow overnight by Armenia and Azerbaijan puts us on the path towards the resumption of substantive negotiations in the agreed format,” Rama added. 

The increasing human toll of the fighting had been of particular concern, Rama noted, and in this regard, the humanitarian pause to exchange prisoners of war, other detainees, and the remains of those killed in the hostilities is an important step.

This development came in response to the appeal by Russian President Putin and in accordance with the agreement of Azerbaijani President Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan. 

Rama welcomed Russia’s role in convening the talks, which were held together with the presence of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk. “The Co-Chairs and my Personal Representative remain fully engaged with the sides, and are ready to ensure every effort is focused on achieving a peaceful negotiated solution of the conflict,” Rama said.