View of the Flame Towers architectural complex in Baku. File photoBAKU, Aug 27Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev called the OSCE Minsk Group an organization that committed suicide. «For us, there is no such institution anymore. The Minsk Group is an organization that committed suicide, the Minsk Group is already part of history … Based on the UN Charter and the decisions of the Security Council, these states were a mandate was given to the international community to eliminate this injustice, to stop the occupation and aggression, but not a single inch of Azerbaijani land was liberated from occupation, not a single citizen of Azerbaijan returned to his land,» Hajiyev told reporters.
The Federation Council announced the plans of the OSCE to discredit Russia before the elections According to him, appointing someone as a co-chair of the Minsk Group after 30 years of unsuccessful activity is just a shameful step. three co-chairs — Russia, the USA and France. The Azerbaijani authorities have repeatedly stated that they consider the activities of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group senseless. In turn, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the statements about the dissolution of the group's co-chairmanship unfounded. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that France and the United States refused to cooperate with the Russian Federation within the «troika» of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on April 14 that Russian Ambassador-at-Large, Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Karabakh settlement Igor Khovaev will continue to work in his new capacity as Special Representative of the Russian Foreign Minister on promoting the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, in this regard, Moscow expects to support Baku and Yerevan in its work. At the end of September 2020, hostilities resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh, which became a continuation of a long-term conflict and led to civilian casualties. The parties made several attempts to conclude a truce, but the tripartite agreement reached on the night of November 10 was successful. With the mediation of Moscow, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to completely cease fire and exchange prisoners and the bodies of the dead. Yerevan also handed over to Baku the Kelbajar and Lachin regions, as well as part of the Aghdam region, which since 1994 have been under the control of the unrecognized NKR. In addition, Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in the region.
