Co-Chairs of OSCE Minsk Group release statement

BUCHAREST, 3 April 2008 - The Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group released the following statement today:

"On the margins of the NATO summit in Bucharest on April 2-4, 2008, the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov (Russian Federation), Ambassador Bernard Fassier (France), and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza (United States), and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman in Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister and President-elect Serge Sargsian, together with their Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Elmar Mammadyarov and Vartan Oskanyan.

"The two leaders and the Co-Chairs exchanged views on ways to reduce differences between the sides and forge consensus on the Basic Principles for the Peaceful Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) Conflict.

"The Co-Chairs reiterated their support for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and reaffirmed their longstanding view that a peaceful resolution of the conflict will require a negotiated political compromise on the final status of NK, pending the future approval of its population.

"The two leaders and the Co-Chairs agreed to continue the negotiations on the existing basis, further clarify the current proposal on the table, and pursue additional steps to advance the peace process. For that purpose, the mediators underscored the utility of meetings at the highest level between the sides as soon as possible."