Recognising that peace is a necessary ingredient in the overall well being of mankind, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, last week urged members to continue the efforts towards reaching a comprehensive peace settlement on Nagorno-Karabakh.

“I welcome the efforts in reaching common understanding on a number of issues whose resolution will help create the conditions for approval of the Basic Principles. I hope the work to address the outstanding issues will be continued, to pave the way towards resolving the conflict,” Ažubalis said.

Mr Azubalis stressed: “The OSCE stands ready to support and complement, including via my Personal Representative on the conflict, any efforts made at the tripartite level and under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, to put an end to confrontation and instability in the South Caucasus.”

Ažubalis hammered on the need for strengthening the ceasefire regime and for further confidence-building measures with involvement of the civil society as discussed during his meetings with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in March. “I encourage the leaders to follow through on the agreements made in the previous tripartite meetings in Astrakhan in October 2010 and in Sochi in March this year, including to investigate possible incidents on the Line of Contact and refrain from the threat or use of force,” he said