Epress.am News from Armenia
The OSCE Minsk Group saw "signs of improvements in infrastructure" in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to a press release issued by OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), Jacques Faure (France), and James Warlick (US) in Baku on May 19, following a visit to the region from May 16–19, accompanied by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk and Ambassador Pierre Andrieu, who will take over as French Co-Chair in June.
"The main objective of their visit was to review the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kelbajar, and Lachin, in accordance with their mandate. In travelling through these areas, they saw signs of improvements in infrastructure, but could not observe any indications that the size of the population had changed in recent years.
"They also visited the Sarsang reservoir, and discussed its status and operations with managers of the facility. They expressed their hope that the sides will reach an agreement to jointly manage these water resources to the benefit of the region.
"On May 19, the Co-Chairs crossed the Line of Contact near Terter. They expressed regret for the continued ceasefire violations and consequent casualties. The absence of a mechanism for investigating these ceasefire violations allows the sides to put the blame on each other," reads the statement, in part.