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The internationally mandated format of the Minsk group Co-Chairmanship has been and remains the most effective format for Nagorno Karabakh settlement process, Armenian FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan stated during an interview to the Public Channel on Friday. In Mnatsakanyan’s words, the change of the format will yield no result, and Armenia will oppose those attempts [to change the format].  

Asked, whether the issue of expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson has recorded any progress, the minister said: “Unfortunately, Azerbaijan continues blocking the proposal. I would speak more generally, as the matter is not only about the expansion of the mandate but also in a wider context about creating an atmosphere conductive of peace, strengthening the ceasefire regime, eliminating all the risks that can lead to escalation. Thus, this is a complex topic that contains number of subitems, the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson among them.”

Mnatsakanyan also responded to the question about the Artsakh involvement in the negotiations process as the PM had previously voiced about on number of occasions.

“That is not news. Actually, the issue that Artsakh has its decisive voice in the process has been expressed for many times, and this that is reality. We continue to working toward ensuring the place of the Artsakh decisive voice in the process. It is clear that without Artsakh decisions no lasting and stable settlement is ever possible and imaginable,” stressed Mnatsakanyan.

The FM then reiterated Armenia’s stance to work constructively in the course of the peace process.