VILNIUS. - The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has gone on for too long, reads the Report on progress made during Lithuania’s Chairmanship of the OSCE by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian FM Audronius Ažubalis on Wednesday.

“Throughout the year, the Chairmanship, the Co-Chairs and members of the Minsk Group, and other participating States urged the parties to continue, in a greater spirit of compromise, to negotiate a peaceful settlement based upon the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, including non-use or threat of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples,” reads the statement.

According to Ažubalis, this culminated in agreement on a Joint Statement by the Heads of Delegation of the Minsk Gorup Co-Chair Countries and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the margins of the Vilnius Ministerial Council on 6 December. In it, the five Heads of Delegations agreed on the need to continue the negotiating process in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group and to improve the climate for making progress towards a peaceful settlement.

“The Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan said that their Presidents are ready to meet again jointly in the near future under the auspices of the Co-Chair countries to continue their direct dialogue, building upon recent experience, on how to bring peace, stability and prosperity to their peoples. This year, many deplorable incidents occurred along the Line of Contact. These incidents resulted in the loss of life, and contributed to increased tension in the region. The Chairmanship, alongside the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group, called on the parties to take additional, immediate actions to reinforce the cease-fire agreement by agreeing on a mechanism to conduct investigations of incidents along the Line of Contact, and by removing snipers,” stressed OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.