OSCE MG co-chair: “Changing the format is not going to address any of problems”

During the interview with Radio Liberty US co-chair of the OSCE MG was asked whether really the Minsk Group needs to take a new approach or risk losing legitimacy.

“I don’t think that the problem of our inability to reach a peace agreement has been the format of the Minsk Group or the format of the co-chairs. The problem is that these are very difficult questions. The differences between the sides are very great, and frankly, there’s a lack of trust. Changing the format is not going to address any of those things. Those things will continue.

I feel that we’ve made a lot of substantive progress in the last years. Again, I think the outlines of an agreement are there. There are complications about the sequencing of steps toward a final settlement, about fleshing out some of the details, and as I say, there’s this lack of trust which makes it much more difficult to reach agreement.

So I think rather than starting over again from some new perspective with some new format, the sides have told us that they want to work in this format and that they accept this format”, Bradtke said.

During the conversation the diplomat also spoke about theKazanmeeting and the expectation from it.

”Obviously, we had hoped to see more progress atKazanand we regret the fact that there was not more progress. But that doesn’t mean that everything is lost. It doesn’t mean we don’t have areas where the sides agree or that we can’t still move forward from the work that has been done. It means we take a deep breath and look for ways to move forward. 

One of the challenges at this stage is the interrelationship among the steps described in the Basic Principles document. I really don’t want to get into too much detail, because this is a sensitive negotiation, but that’s really one of the challenges now. It’s the sequencing and interrelationship of the steps that take place”,USdiplomat said.

As everyone knows Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev offered ten changes in the document at the last moment and that is why no document was signed during theKazanmeeting.Azerbaijandoes everything to damage the negotiating process and announces always that OSCE MG is not the most appropriate format for NK issue to be settled. It tries to remove NK issue to other international platforms which damages the negotiating process.

Azerbaijanalso did not let OSCE to create a commission to observe the situation on the border and examine the cases which take place there.