The situation at the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces calmed down significantly after summit in Sochi, Personal Representative OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk said.

In an interview with Trend agency, Kasprzyk said the situation was very tense at the beginning of August.

“Intrusions, casualties and targeting of villages and civilians were reported. The OSCE chairperson-in-office, the co-chairs of the Minsk Group and representatives of other countries and international organisations called for strict observance of the ceasefire,”he noted.

“After the summit the situation stabilized and according to reports I have received, it has calmed down significantly. This is very positive and I hope it will continue this way,” he stressed.

The OSCE representative said the ceasefire between Azerbaijan and Armenia is in force through the agreement reached between the parties and its observance depends on the parties' will.

Kasprzyk went on to add that he is ready to assist in any way possible to build confidence, adding that he works continuously to present ideas in accordance with his mandate.

“I offer the chance for local commanders to talk directly to each other using OSCE radios during monitoring exercises, and support any measures that the parties might consider useful to lower the number of incidents on the line of contact and the border,” he said.

Kasprzyk also said he pays a lot of attention to protection of civilian population in areas close to the front lines, visiting the villages and getting acquainted with their situation.

“I also try to support activities of the commissions on prisoners of war and missing persons as well as the International Committee of the Red Cross on the releases of detainees and repatriation of bodies. Generally, I try to develop and implement confidence-building measures that can alleviate the situation and are conducive to progress in the peace negotiations that are conducted by the co-chairs.”