CSTO supports OSCE Minsk Group role in Karabakh settlement

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) said in a statement it supports the OSCE Minsk Group in the process of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

In the statement published after the organization's summit on October 14, the heads of member states expressed support to the agreements on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict reached this year in Vienna and Saint Petersburg, aimed at thwarting the rise of tension in the conflict zone, stabilization of the situation and creation of conditions for moving the peace process forward.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev met on June 20 in Saint Petersburg to address the conflict, with Russian President Vladimir Putin mediating the talks. The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents confirmed their commitment to the implementation of agreements reached at a Vienna-hosted meeting on May 16. To that end, they agreed to increase the number of international observers in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone. Also, they expressed satisfaction that the ceasefire was now holding. Prior to that, a meeting between both leaders was organized on May 16 in Vienna, with top diplomats from the MG co-chairing countries hosting the summit.

At the session, the parties reiterated the necessity of solving the issue through exclusively peaceful means, and expressed support to the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at the resolution of the conflict and based on the norms and principles of international law, UN Charter, Helsinki Final Act, and the principles of non-use of force or threat to use force, territorial integrity of the states, legal equality and the right of people for self-determination.