Remarks to the Press by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh
Q.: Was there any discussion of the plans potentially to safeguard a ceasefire, any sort of monitoring? Who would do that? Is it a UN job, OSCE? Is that being discussed?
A.: There is a need to ensure verification. I think that's the most pressing issue now. Since the agreement on a ceasefire was reached, it has not been observed. The major question is how to verify the ceasefire, which is being violated.
Today, there were reports that the Russian Defense Ministry is negotiating with their colleagues in Armenia and Azerbaijan how to implement this verification mechanism. That issue was raised, of course, in the process of consultations, and the Council was pretty much united on how they see the situation.
Q.: In your national capacity, Ambassador, what would you think is the best mechanism? Is this the UN or OSCE? Which body would be best?
A.: For the UN, frankly, we would need to have a Security Council mandate. And that's not an easy and immediate thing. The OSCE is the lead on the settlement. Who will be there? In what capacity? Who will be actually verifying it? That's still a question. I know it is being discussed. How it will be implemented in practice - that's another thing.
