Russia together with other co-chairing states of the OSCE Minsk Group – U.S. and France – will continue to help Armenia and Azerbaijan to reach mutually acceptable arrangements, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said in Basel.

He stressed that the Karabakh peace process is a long and complicated process, TASS reported.

Lavrov noted that for Russia together with France and U.S. has been working to find common ground on the approaches so that it would be possible to begin to negotiate on “practical implementation of the principles of respect for territorial integrity, non-use of force and respect for people's right to self-determination”.

Minister recalled that at the summit of the presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Astrakhan in 2010 a statement was made related to the issue of hostages. The Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan expressed commitment to create a mechanism that would allow the exchange of hostages, and if there are dead, the exchange of bodies.

“I hope that this statement will be taken into account in the practical steps of the parties at the line of contact in the region,” he emphasized.

Lavrov added that did not have information on specific cases of taking hostages.