OSCE meeting on steps for peace in Nagorno-Karabakh

WARSAW, 4 March 1998 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, met on March 3 in Warsaw with the French, Russian and American Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group. They exchanged views on possible further steps aimed at facilitating peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Chairman-in-Office emphasized the utmost importance which he attaches to an early resumption of the negotiations within the OSCE Minsk process and expressed his full support to the efforts of the Co-Chairmen in this regard. He welcomed the Co-Chairmen's intention to convene on 5 March the meeting of the Minsk Group and to visit the region soon after the presidential elections in Armenia.

The Chairman-in-Office and the Co-Chairs were unanimous in their belief that the proposals advanced by the Co-Chairmen should continue to constitute the basis for resumption of negotiations. At the same time they would welcome any constructive suggestions which might result in speeding-up the negotiating process.

The Chairman-in-Office and the Co-Chairs expressed concern over the increase of military incidents on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Line of Contact, including shooting at the OSCE monitoring team, which resulted in a temporary suspension of monitoring activities.

They called on the Parties to the conflict to show maximum restraint and to avoid any statements or actions which might lead to an uncontrolled development of the situation or hamper the negotiating process.