YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 19, ARMENPRESS. Artsakh’s minister of foreign affairs Masis Mayilyan expects the expansion of the office and monitoring capacities of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office.

“The 2016 April war demonstratively showed that in the current phase in the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict the strengthening of the ceasefire regime and ensuring irreversibility of the peaceful process is a priority task. In this context our expectations for 2018 are mainly associated with expansion of monitoring capacities and the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office. We believe the next step must be a discussion for a more substantial result of ceasefire violation investigation mechanisms”, the minister said at a press conference when asked about the ministry’s expectations over the negotiations process.

According to Mayilyan, stability and security in the line of contact will have a multiplying effect on the whole settlement process.

In particular, the minister says it will enable to avoid human losses, thus the main source of tension between the societies of the conflicting sides will disappear.

“In turn, this will create favorable conditions for implementing actions aimed at restoring trust between the sides. This will provide a more constructive atmosphere for advancing the negotiations process”, he said.

“At the same time, we consider the expansion of the office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office and monitoring capacities rather realistic, of course in case of a political will from the Azerbaijani side”, he said.