During the Vienna meeting, the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents confirmed their commitment to ceasefire and peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov, said the aforementioned in an interview with Interfax.

In his words, according to the information received from the OSCE monitors, this agreement is mostly observed: “[This is apparent] Especially if we compare the current situation with what we had in early April this year. Therefore, it is important to move towards the practical implementation of the agreements reached in Vienna on reduction of military risks and creation of conditions for the resumption of the negotiation process aimed at achieving stable settlement.”

According to the mediator, the possibility to enter the expert level depends on the sides’ readiness to overcome the existing controversies on the key issues of the settlement and reach a framework agreement.

“After this it will be possible to speak about the setting up of expert groups, also in order to include this agreement in a legally binding document. There are prospects for this. In Vienna the presidents principally agreed on the necessity to resume the negotiation process on essential matters. I hope the constructive stance will prevail,” Popov noted.  

Referring to the investigation of military incidents, Popov noted that the high-level agreements on completing the work on the relevant mechanism have been reached, and the OSCE specialists are now working on its final adjustment. “Last week, together with the Minsk Group Co-Chair, we passed the experts’ preliminary project to the Azerbaijani and Armenian FMs. We are waiting for the sides’ conclusion.”