Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandian, who is in New York on a working visit, on Friday held a second meeting with the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group.

Nalbandian condemned and deemed unacceptable Azerbaijan’s gross violations of the ceasefire, and with the heavy artillery, which has claimed human lives.

“Baku, to divert attention from the outrageous human rights situation in Azerbaijan and the growing criticism of the international community towards this, aggravates the situation, with considerable unforeseen negative consequences, on the Line of Contact with Nagorno-Karabakh and the border with Armenia,” he said “With these provocations, Baku demonstrates its disregard both to human life and to its own commitments.”

Subsequently, and upon the proposal by the Minsk Group co-chairs and in their presence, a meeting took place with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov.

Nalbandian, referring to the co-chairs’ most recent statement, noted: “It is Azerbaijan that continuously rejects the proposals on confidence-building measures and the initiatives aimed at the stabilization of the situation, and therefore it is apparent to whom the messages of the statement are addressed. But it leads to an impression that Baku deliberately doesn’t pay attention to what the international community calls upon through the mediator states [i.e. US, Russia, and France].”

Minister Nalbandian also attached importance to the co-chairs’ reaffirmation of the proposal on the creation of an investigative mechanism on the ceasefire violations, to which Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have expressed their consent on numerous occasions. It would allow determining, with more certainty, the side that is responsible for the ceasefire violations and incidents.

“[But] Azerbaijan refuses this because it wants to have its hands free, and to continue its provocations on the Line of Contact and borders, [and] without the international scrutiny,” added the Armenian FM.

The minister also stated: “Baku not only refuses the co-chairs’ initiatives on confidence-building measures and rejects the mediators’ proposals on conflict resolution, [and] which have been made public in five statements by the heads of the Minsk Group co-chairing countries, but also casts aside any reference to them, [and] which once again was vividly demonstrated during the EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga.”

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, for their part, expressed their deep concern about the escalation of tension, and stressed that further escalation is unacceptable.

The plans on the co-chairs’ next visit to the region and the upcoming meetings also were discussed at the talk.