OSCE MG Dead - Baku, Moscow See Eye To Eye Despite Yerevan's Efforts To Keep It Alive

(MENAFN- AzerNews)

By Sabina Mammadli

The OSCE Minsk Group, created to mediate a peaceful resolution to the then Karabakh conflict in the South Caucasus between Yerevan and Baku and to which big hopes were pinned, has completely lost its significance and its mandate naturally became invalid after the 2020 win of the Azerbaijani army.

In his latest comment on the OSCE Minsk Group at the Baku Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network, President Aliyev stifled speculations about the future status of this good-for-nothing mediation group that proved its non-conformity to the challenge and lacked the dexterity to live up to its mandate and be pivotal as representatives of the leading nations to be a good example of what can be done through peaceful negotiations.

In this regard, the president stated that the OSCE created the Minsk Group in 1992 with the purpose to render international support to resolve the conflict in the region and put an end to the occupation. However, he noted that the Minsk Group became an instrument in the hands of those who wanted this occupation to last forever.

“And now, when Azerbaijan resolved the conflict, put an end to the occupation, restored its territorial integrity by military and then political means, there is no need for the Minsk Group any longer. We already said farewell to the Minsk Group. But, unfortunately, Armenia and some others want to revitalize it. It is not possible. It is already dead and we, as a country which suffered from occupation, we say that openly and I think that any further speculation about the OSCE Minsk Group is not only counterproductive but also destructive for possible peace in our region,” the president said.

Such opinion has been voiced before when the president stated that the MG and its co-chairs are virtually non-functional and de facto it does not exist.

“The Minsk Group was active for 28 years before the second Karabakh war. The result was zero. Although the mandate given to the Minsk Group to resolve the conflict is de jure in force, it can already be considered invalid de facto,” the president stressed.

Similarly, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made comments stating that the Minks Group no longer exists.

“We do not discuss the OSCE Minsk Group (MG), because it has ceased its activities. We discussed the processes of post-conflict resolution. The basis for these new processes lies in three tripartite statements by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia,” Lavrov underlined during his recent visit to Baku.

On the contrary, Armenia seems to hold a vastly opposite opinion.

During the June 27 press conference, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he found Lavrov's comments on the matter 'strange', adding that it did not correspond to a joint statement, made by Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this year.

“It is written that we must [...] use the potential of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in accordance with its international mandate. This is the official position of Russia, which is recorded on paper. I think that this contradiction should be clarified”, Pashinyan said.

In an interview with Azernews, commenting on the matter, Paul Goble, former advisor to the US Secretary of State noted that he doesn't see OSCE MG having any great success.

“You will hear in the capitals of all the countries involved that, well, it prevented violence for many years. Well, did it? I am not so sure. I understand why Armenia is very interested in trying to revive the activities of the MG. And it is simply this. The OSCE Minsk Group, in the persons of Americans, and especially the French, are the only ones who seem to be very sympathetic to the idea that a focus, other than the Armenians, the focus of the talks should be on the final status of the Armenian community politically in Azerbaijan,” the pundit said.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SabinaMmdl

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• Tags:
• Azerbaijan
• Armenia
• Sergei Lavrov
• Minsk Group

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