The UK government will continue to apply the OSCE embargo to the supply of military list equipment to Armenia and Azerbaijan, Minister for Europe David Lidington said in a written statement on Wednesday.

“Following a thorough review of its procedures for processing export and trade licence applications to Armenia and Azerbaijan, the UK government will continue to apply the OSCE embargo to the supply of military list equipment to military, police and security forces and related governmental entities, where this equipment could be used in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, or on the land border between Azerbaijan and Armenia,” the statement reads.

The South Caucasus is an area of strategic importance to the UK. In partnership with Armenia and Azerbaijan the UK continues to work for peace, security and mutual understanding in the region, the message says. In the 2012-13 financial year, the UK funded £1.245 million worth of projects to promote peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia
 
“We strongly support the work of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group to find a peaceful and lasting resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is for this reason that the UK continues to adhere to the embargo on deliveries of military list equipment to forces engaged in combat in the Nagorno-Karabakh area in
accordance with the precursor to the OSCE, the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe’s declaration of 1992,”  Lidington added.