The OSCE Ministerial Council recently decided to terminate the activities of the Minsk process and related structures.
According to the decision, a joint appeal addressed by the foreign ministers of the two countries to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, within the framework of the agreement reached at the meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, held in Washington on August 8, 2025, with the participation of the US President, was taken into account.
The activities of the OSCE Minsk process, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on the conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference, and the High-Level Planning Group have been terminated as of September 1.
The Ministry's statement noted that the OSCE Secretariat has been tasked with finalizing the organizational and technical issues arising from the closure of these structures by December 1, 2025, at the latest.
Thus, from next week, the OSCE Minsk Group will become a part of history.
Commenting on the topic, Milli Majlis deputy Elman Nasirov told Modern.az that the Minsk Group never intended to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. According to the deputy, the p primarily focused on freezing the problem for many years.
“The co-chairs of the Minsk Group from the USA, France, and Russia tried to make Azerbaijan agree to the existing status quo and accept the occupation of our lands.
The main purpose of their many years of “tourist visits” to Azerbaijan and Armenia was to keep the issue in an indefinite state and prolong the process as much as possible. They even claimed that, supposedly, without their activities, a war could have broken out between the two countries. They tried to present themselves as the party preventing war.
The 44-day Patriotic War we launched in 2020 clearly demonstrated that the activities of the Minsk Group were, in fact, nothing. With the full restoration of our sovereignty in 2023, we ourselves accomplished what the Minsk Group could not do for years.”
E. Nasirov stated that one of Azerbaijan's main demands to Armenia was that Armenia renounce the Minsk Group's activities in the region:
"Considering that OSCE decisions are adopted on a consensus basis, Armenia also had to renounce the Minsk Group. Finally, on August 8 this year, within the framework of a trilateral meeting in the United States of America – with the participation of the leaders of the USA, Azerbaijan, and Armenia – this issue was resolved. The demand for the abolition of the Minsk Group was also put forward at the trilateral meeting, and a relevant appeal regarding this issue was sent to the OSCE leadership.
Thus, on December 1, the abolition of the Minsk Group will be fully formalized, and the OSCE Minsk Group will be erased from the stage of history, becoming a part of the past. In fact, the Minsk Group was previously an institution that no one needed. Now, the question arises: is there a need to create a new institution as an alternative to the Minsk Group?
Processes show that the absence of such mediators is more appropriate in resolving Azerbaijan-Armenia relations. Bilateral negotiations are the most effective method. After the decisive 44-day war, Azerbaijan has already made significant progress in the plane of political settlement.
At the same time, Azerbaijan's demand to Armenia is that it completely renounce territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The declaration initialed on August 8 was designed to direct matters precisely in this direction.
Next year, parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia in June. The victory of the current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not ruled out. In such a case, immediate steps will be taken towards the adoption of a new Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. Here, the discussion is not about amending the Constitution, but specifically about re-adopting it. At the same time, this Constitution must reflect the renunciation of any territorial claims against Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
After all these processes are completed, there will be no obstacle to the signing of a peace agreement between us, and there is great confidence that 2026 will be a year of peace.”
Javid Zahidoglu
