YEREVAN. – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) members need to seriously consider the word of warning by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs that the attempts to change the format of the Nagorno-Karabakh talks, or to create parallel mechanisms, can undermine the negotiation process and hinder the progress toward a resolution.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Edward Nalbandian, told the aforesaid to Aravot daily. He noted this commenting on the anti-Armenian report entitled “Escalation of Violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and Other Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan” by Robert Walter (United Kingdom, EC), which the PACE Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy had approved on November 4, and which also will be considered at the forthcoming PACE plenary session.

“Azerbaijan is attempting to transfer the discussions on a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement to other platforms,” Nalbandian added. “But the only format, which has the mandate of the international community, is the format of the co-chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“Since Azerbaijan’s lobbying efforts are failing in the other European organizations, Baku is attempting—with its initiatives here—to cling on to bubbles.”