Joint statement on Nagorno-Karabakh signed at Astana OSCE summit

A joint statement by the leaders of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the OSCE - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the prime minister of France, Francois Fegnon, Secretary of State of the USA, Hillary Clinton - as well as the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serge Sargsyan, has been signed at a OSCE summit in Astana.

They agreed that the time has come for more decisive efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In this context, they recalled the joint statements of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia at a meeting with Medvedev on November 2, 2008, in Moscow, and on October 27, 2010, in Astrakhan. They further agreed that a peaceful, negotiated settlement will bring stability and security and is the only way to bring real reconciliation to the peoples of the region.

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan reaffirmed their commitment to seek a final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, based upon: the principles and norms of international law; the United Nations Charter; the Helsinki Final Act; as well as the statements of Presidents Medvedev, Sarkozy, and Obama, at L'Aquila on July 10, 2009, and at Muskoka on June 26, 2010.

The three OSCE Co-Chair countries pledged their support for the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia as they make the necessary decisions to reach a peaceful settlement. They urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to focus with renewed energy on the issues that still remain in the Basic Principles, and instructed their Co-Chairs to continue to work with the parties to the conflict to assist in these efforts. In order to create a better atmosphere for the negotiations, they called for additional steps to strengthen the ceasefire and carry out confidence-building measures in all fields.