OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs issue statement

New York, 26 September 2009 - The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Yury Merzlyakov of Russia, Bernard Fassier of France, and Robert Bradtke of the United States, released the following statement today:

"The newly-appointed United States' Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Ambassador Robert Bradtke invited French Co-Chair Ambassador Bernard Fassier, Russian Co-Chair Ambassador Yury Merzlyakov, and Personal Representative of the Chairman-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk to Washington D.C. September 24 for consultations. The Co-Chairs met with Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, Senior Director for European Affairs at the National Security Council and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Tina Kaidanow.

The Co-Chairs met September 25 in New York with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on the margins of the UN General Assembly. The two foreign ministers and the Co-Chairs reaffirmed a commitment to negotiations based on the Basic Principles, and discussed upcoming travel of the Co-Chairs to the region in early October.

As agreed in Moscow July 18, the Co-Chairs will travel to Armenia and Azerbaijan to prepare for a proposed meeting between President Aliyev and President Sargsian in Chisinau on the margins of the CIS Summit.

At this important moment in the negotiating process, the Co-Chairs called on both sides to be constructive in their public statements."