Why Washington and Paris Stopped Communication with the Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group: Zakharova Comments

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Maria Zakharova, has stated that Washington and Paris have stopped communication with the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"Without any consultation, they have demonstratively ceased communication with the Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group since February 24. This has fundamentally harmed the work of the trio," Zakharova stated, referring to the remarks made by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried, who claimed that the U.S. remains committed to the co-chair format of the Minsk Group.

According to Zakharova, if Washington and Paris truly valued the unique mediation format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship, they would not have allowed themselves to ignore the mandate that was approved by all member countries.

She characterized the withdrawal from the format as an "irresponsible step," and added that the Russian side is interested in the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, and that Moscow will do everything possible to implement the agreements made by the leaders of the three countries.