“We urge the parties to sustain the positive dynamic of the negotiations and strongly support their commitment to finalize the Basic Principles on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, based on the Madrid Document in order to begin drafting a comprehensive peace agreement in good faith and without delay,” they said in a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day conference held in Athens.
“We are convinced there is today a real opportunity to build a future of peace, stability, and prosperity for the entire region,” the ministers added on behalf of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
They welcomed in that regard a joint declaration adopted on Tuesday by the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers as well as top diplomats from the United States, Russia and France, the three nations co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh. The declaration said the conflicting parties reaffirmed their “commitment to work intensively to resolve the remaining issues” and cut a framework deal based on the internationally recognized principles of “non-use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples.”
The OSCE foreign ministers also voiced support for those principles. Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, emphasized the importance of their joint statement, at a late-night news conference. He said it is the first document of its kind adopted by at an OSCE ministerial conference in a decade.