Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 27 July 2016: Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to extend OSCE monitoring mission in Nagorno-Karabakh

US co-chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, James Warlick, claimed that Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents have agreed on the extension of the OSCE monitoring group on the contact line of troops and the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.  “It is planned to continue extensive negotiations to resolve the conflict with the involvement of senior officials from each side. Progress in the diplomatic direction is required to reduce tensions between the parties,” APA cited him as saying. James Warlick also pointed out that the OSCE MG co-chairs are actively working on the implementation of the arrangements made by presidents of conflicted sides during meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

The major players in the region contribute to the process of slow resolving of the bloody conflict. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the latest visits of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Yerevan and Baku mainly targeted the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. At the same time, she pointed out that right now there are no clear dates of when next round of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement will be held. "But I want to repeat that contacts are maintained not only during personal meetings, talks and visits, but they are also maintained through phone conversations and on the level of embassies," she stated.

Earlier this week, Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan commented on the possibility of opening of borders between Turkey and Armenia. "Turkey will continue to act jointly with Azerbaijan in the peaceful settlement of the conflict within the principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of Azerbaijan’s borders”, Ismail Alper Coskun said.
"Turkey’s stance on normalisation of the relations with Armenia is clear: the relations can be normalised after the liberation of Azerbaijani lands from occupation. Only after this, there will be made a decision jointly with Azerbaijan on this issue," Trend cited Coskun as saying. Ambassador reminded that Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov discussed the procedures around the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, during his visit to Baku July 15.

As for now, USA is putting itself at a distance from the case. US Secretary of State John Kerry thanked Russia for its steps for Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s agreement, RIA Novosti reported.After talks with Sergey Lavrov, Kerry said ”he was grateful to President Vladimir Putin for his leadership role”