Russia says OSCE MG dissolution is justified

Russia considers the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group to be justified given the ‘radical changes’ in the regional realities, Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing.

“Russia, together with a number of other OSCE member states, participated in adopting the decision to dissolve the Minsk Group based on the principle of consensus,” she said. “We believe this step to be completely justified given the changes in the situation in the South Caucasus.”

In August this year, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed the joint appeal to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on the closure of OSCE's Minsk Process and related structures within the framework of the Washington accords. The OSCE MG was set up in the early 1990s to deal with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution. It was co-chaired by Russia, the U.S. and France.

Zakharova said the Russian co-chairmanship had made every possible effort toward Armenian-Azeri normalization and a peaceful resolution to the conflict.