On February 23, the newly-appointed Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for Protracted Conflicts Giedrius Cekuolis will visit Armenia, OSCE  Yerevan Office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

On February 21-22, Cekuolis was on a 2-day visit to Baku.

“The Minsk Group is a good tool, but every instrument can be improved indefinitely. I understand that 18 years of negotiations is a significant period, but the Minsk Group in this period did much for the OSCE. Yes, the conflict remains frozen, but it should be evaluated the fact it was achieved to prevent it from escalating,” Cekuolis said.

Cekuolis would like to see more efforts in the work of the Minsk Group to identify the political will of parties to the conflict: “Political will is not enough, and we hope to wake up this will. The Minsk Group is capable of it. We believe that this group could greatly advance, of course, under favorable political circumstances,” he said.

Cekuolis preferred not to go into details and name concrete measures on the conflict resolution, as all initiatives are yet to be discussed, Trend News reports.

“My main goal during this visit is to attentively study the views of the parties, both in Baku and Yerevan. You [the conflicting parties] are the best experts in the glow conflict. Ways to resolve the conflict may be developed with the political will, your knowledge, and the help of the OSCE,” he added.

Moreover, Cekuolis would like to see more active contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. “All the countries in the OSCE communicate with each other, and eventually it may be the devil is not so terrible as he is painted,” Cekuolis said.

The visit aims to prepare the upcoming meetings of OSCE Chairman, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis in Baku in mid March. Cekuolis will visit Tbilisi and will conclude his tour in Yerevan.