Baku Warns of Risks in Prolonging Armenian-Azerbaijani Negotiations

The Foreign Ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan, Sergey Lavrov and Jeyhun Bayramov, discussed post-conflict resolution in the South Caucasus during recent negotiations. Lavrov stated that he did not discuss the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group with his Azerbaijani counterpart, saying, “The OSCE Minsk Group has halted its operations at the initiative of the USA and France.”

The Russian Foreign Minister highlighted that discussions focused on post-conflict processes, grounded in three trilateral statements. Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov mentioned that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group were asked for a new assessment of the situation since all elements outlined in the Madrid Principles have already been implemented. However, according to him, even a year after the war, Baku has not received any practical proposals from them, and since February 2022, the co-chair format has been paralyzed for known reasons.

“For Azerbaijan, the priority is the normalization of relations with Armenia and achieving lasting peace in the region. The negotiation process should not be hostage to any format,” Bayramov declared. The authoritarian regime’s minister presented Baku’s position that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is in the past and that cooperation is necessary for sustained peace. “The trilateral agreements must be fully and unconditionally implemented. Artificial prolongation of the negotiation process carries serious risks,” he added.