YEREVAN. - It has not been within the mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to investigate who started first and who is liable. (photos)

The OSCE Minsk Group Russian Co-Chair Igor Popov noted the aforementioned at the meeting with journalists in Yerevan, referring to the military actions in the Karabakh conflict zone on April 2.

“Our main task is to help the sides to stabilize the situation, and also achieve non-recurrence of the military actions. It has not been within our mandate to decide who started first and who is responsible for the happening.

The common conclusion which we have made following the meetings is that the sides intend, or at least they express readiness to observe the ceasefire established in Moscow.

In principle we have talked about what should be done for maintaining peace. Apparently, the main task is to bring the sides to the bargaining table. There is a principle perception that it’s necessary to return to the political discussions,” Popov said.

In his words, they have also discussed issues on re-establishing confidence between the parties. “We will discuss these issues in the capital cities of the parties, and then meet once again in a week. We expect to return to the region when needed,” he said, adding that returning the bodies of the dead soldiers is one of the most important issues that should be resolved right now. “The ICRC deals with this now, while the group of Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk is doing the coordination,” the Russian Co-Chair said.

He also offered condolences to the relatives and friends of all the soldiers who were killed during the recent military actions.