MINSK GROUP CO-CHAIRS WARN AGAINST RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES

In a statement released in Yerevan on 8 November at the end of the visit to Baku, Stepanakert, and Yerevan, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen from France, Russia and the United States warned that a resumption of hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh would have "disastrous" results for the entire South Caucasus. Even the continuation of the current state of "not peace, but not war" risks leaving Armenia and Azerbaijan excluded from the positive processes of integration currently under way throughout the world, the statement said. The co-chairs confirmed that in their meetings with Presidents Heidar Aliev and Kocharian they presented ideas that could help to bring the positions of the two sides closer, stressing that responsibility for finding a solution to the conflict lies primarily with the two presidents.