Finland, as the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), will hold talks with participating States in response to a joint call by Armenia and Azerbaijan to close the Minsk process and related institutions, the organization’s headquarters told the Azerbaijan Report.
In turn, the OSCE Secretariat is ready to implement all decisions taken as a result of these discussions, the organization’s official representative said.
The OSCE confirmed that on August 11, a joint statement was received from Azerbaijan and Armenia to the Ministerial Council with a proposal to resolve the issue of dissolving the Minsk Group and other related institutions.
According to the official representative of the organization, the OSCE remains committed to all efforts aimed at establishing lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus.
The OSCE Minsk Group was established in 1992 for the peaceful settlement of the Artsakh conflict. After the 2020 war, Baku declared the conflict had been resolved and that there was no need for either the OSCE Minsk Group or its institutions. Azerbaijan proposed that Armenia submit a joint statement to the OSCE on the dissolution of the Minsk Group.
On August 8, in Washington, the foreign ministers of the two countries, in the presence of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the United States, signed a joint appeal on the dissolution of the group. The dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group was one of two conditions for Azerbaijan to sign a peace treaty with Armenia.