/By AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The recent skirmishes on the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani armies triggered as a result of periodical ceasefire violations by the Armenian troops have sparked serious concerns of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a mediator in the peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The OSCE leadership and Minsk Group co-chairs sat for talks on February 7 to discuss the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, according to the OSCE press service.

Ivica Dacic, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia's Foreign Minister in a meeting with the Minsk Group middlemen, Igor Popov from Russia, James Warlick from the United States, and Pierre Andrieu from France, further joined by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and CiO Personal Representative Andrzej Kasprzyk, said military situation on the frontline poses a threat to regional stability, endangering civilians' lives.

A statement released after the high-level meeting said the military situation along the contact line and Armenia-Azerbaijan border is deteriorating.

"Kasprzyk's monitoring reports in January said about 12 people were killed and 18 others wounded. This is the highest confirmed number of victims in the first month of a year since the ceasefire agreement signed in 1994. Approximately 60 people lost their lives In 2014. Since then the disturbing trend has been continuing," the statement said.

The OSCE excluded any military solution to the conflict, calling on the sides to end incursions, stop targeting villages and civilians, halt retaliator attacks and use of asymmetric force, and take additional steps to reduce tensions.

It added that the partial observation of the security guarantees during the OSCE monitoring exercises is unacceptable.

"We reaffirm the joint statement of the Heads of Delegation of the Co-Chair countries issued at the Basel Ministerial Council on December 4, 2014, calling on the sides to settle humanitarian issues, including the return of bodies and prisoners, in the spirit of the Astrakhan statement of October 2010," the statement noted.

The Minsk Group co-chairs, with the full support of the chairperson-in-office, are preparing to host an intensified negotiation process that can bring to a peaceful end the conflict that has scarred the region for too long.

"We strongly urge the sides to strengthen the political will to begin this process immediately without any preconditions," the OSCE said.

Following the meeting, Warlick wrote on his Twitter page that the co-chairs briefed Dacic and Zannier about Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Earlier, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs held meetings with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian.

The Minsk Group middlemen called for the resumption of presidential dialogue, as it was said in a statement issued after the meeting with Nalbandian in Munich on 5 February.

"The violence and tensions between the sides underscore the necessity of starting comprehensive negotiations as soon as possible. We urged the minister to show more flexibility to kick off such negotiations," the co-chairs said.

Mediators also expressed the importance of implementing the presidents' agreement how to exchange data on missing persons under the aegis of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"This data exchange can build a trust between the sides and facilitate the reconciliation process. Moreover, we call for the resumption of presidential dialogue at the earliest opportunity," they noted.

The Minsk Group middlemen expressed their concern over the rising number of incidents on the frontline and Armenia-Azerbaijan border, urging the belligerents to take steps to prevent a repeat of the November 12 helicopter downing.

The co-chairs are expected to travel to the region on late February.

Hostilities on the contact line increased when two Mi-24 attack helicopters of the Armenian air forces entered illegally into Azerbaijan's airspace, conducting maneuvers in the immediate vicinity of the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces nearby the village of Kengerly in the occupied Aghdam district.

Azerbaijani army knocked down one of the helicopter over the occupied territory to stop the aggression by the enemy.

Armenia's provocative operations against Azerbaijan gained momentum again on January 29 when an unmanned aerial vehicle belonging to the Armenian armed forces was destroyed by the Azerbaijani troops over the contact line in the direction of the occupied Aghdam region.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions. Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have produced no results so far.