YEREVAN. – Nagorno-Karabakh should return to the bargaining table, the OSCE Minsk Group Russian Co-Chair Igor Popov said at a press conference held in Yerevan Saturday. (photos)

Responding to the question on the necessity of Nagorno-Karabakh’s participation in the negotiation process, the diplomat reminded that the Co-Chairs have repeatedly mentioned that Nagorno-Karabakh should return to the bargaining table, especially taking into consideration that it has participated in the negotiations before. In his words, the mediators assume that the conclusion of the framework agreement preceding the agreement could accelerate the process.  

To the question on whether the OSCE Minsk Group has fixed which of the sides launched the military actions on the Line of Contact, the OSCE Minsk Group French Co-Chair Pierre Andrieu stated that the function of determining who the initiator was doesn’t fall within the OSCE Minsk Group mandate: “We haven’t dealt with that. It’s important for us that the truce established in Moscow continue as long as possible, and that political talks begin. We have been talking about this for many years and will continue the work in this direction.”