OSCE Minsk Group reports new obstacles in Nagorno-Karabakh

WARSAW, 10 June 1998 - The Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek, met today with the French, Russian and United States Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group.

The Co-Chairmen informed the Chairman-in-Office about their recent trip to the region of the conflict after the change in the leadership in Armenia and on the results of their meetings with the leadership of all the parties. They noted the need to overcome new obstacles to the settlement of the conflict and expressed their intention to intensify efforts aimed at resumption of the negotiations for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within the OSCE Minsk process.

The Chairman-in-Office stressed the importance of these efforts.

The Chairman-in-Office and the Co-Chairmen emphasized the importance of the continuation of the existing ceasefire on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Line of Contacts. They welcomed the statements to this effect by the representatives of the parties.

They also expressed satisfaction over the resumption of the OSCE monitoring activities which were instrumental in the consolidation of the ceasefire regime.

The Chairman-in-Office informed the Co-Chairmen about his plan to visit the region and expressed hope significant progress would be achieved by that time for a political resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that the visit would add further impetus to this process.