MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. There are no alternatives to the current format of work by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference following talks with his Armenian counterpart Edvard Nalbandian.
"If we are really committed to the fundamental agreements on the need for identifying mutually acceptable solutions, then no alternative to the current format of work by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group exists. That’s a profound conviction of mine," Lavrov said. "The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia have repeatedly stated so either in documents carrying their signatures or they adopted jointly. Also, all members of the OSCE repeatedly came out in support of the leading role of the three co-chairs."
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs do not stay idle.
"The co-chairs on the basis of their trilateral documents, which were distributed regularly as OSCE official documents, came out in favor of speeding up and invigorating the negotiating process," Lavrov said.
"The latest such document was adopted on the sidelines of the Munich Security conference. It underscored the impermissibility of the use of force in settling disputes, including the Karabakh problem, the impermissibility of belligerent rhetoric and the need for the full implementation of agreements achieved at the summits involving the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Vienna and in Petersburg, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin took part.