OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs condemn use of force on Azerbaijani-Armenian troops contact line

"According to reports of the Ministries of Defense of Armenia and Azerbaijan, an armed incident took place during the night of June 18-19, 2010, in the northern part of contact line. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States of America, and Igor Popov of the Russian Federation strongly condemn the use of force and regret the senseless loss of life. Such an incident is an unacceptable violation of the 1994 Ceasefire Agreement and is contrary to the stated commitment of the sides to refrain from the use of force or the threat of the use of force", says the statement.

Statement notes that the incident took place immediately after the meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, held in St. Petersburg on June 17 at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation to pursue the negotiation of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"The use of military force, particularly at this moment, can only be seen as an attempt to damage the peace process", says the statement.

Co-Chairs call upon the sides to exercise restraint on the terrain as well as in their public communications and prepare their population for peace and not for war. According to the statement, Co-Chairs reiterate that there is no alternative to a peaceful negotiation solution of the conflict and that war is not an option.


/Trend/