YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE sees hope for a positive dynamic in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process, Deputy Director for Policy Support Service at OSCE Conflict Prevention Centre Charles Lonsdale, who has also served as UK Ambassador to Armenia from 2008 to 2012, said during the 18th winter meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Vienna, reports Armenpress.

“We follow the developments in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict dealt by the OSCE Minsk Group with great interest, and more recently with some hope for positive dynamic following the regular meetings of foreign ministers and informal meetings between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev”, he said.

Highlighting the commitment of the parties to prepare their populations for peace, he expressed readiness to support if the parties are interested. “But we are not directly involved in the work of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs”, Charles Lonsdale said.

Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had a brief meeting in Dushanbe on September 28, 2018, during which they reached an agreement to reduce tension and prevent incidents in the border. An “operative connection” has been established between the sides since the meeting of the two leaders.

Thereafter, they held another informal meeting in St. Petersburg in December on the sidelines of the informal meeting of the heads of CIS states.

Pashinyan and Aliyev also met on January 22, 2019 in Davos on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan