VIENNA (Sputnik) — According to the press service, earlier in the day, Steinmeier met Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Igor Popov of Russia, Pierre Andrieu of France, and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative of the chairperson-in-office on the conflict, in Berlin.
"Steinmeier welcomed the recent improvements in the upholding of the ceasefire. There was agreement among the participants of the Berlin meeting that a sustainable ceasefire and a return to political negotiations remain indispensable. Today’s talks also served the goal of co-ordinating possible further steps towards achieving a settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, also with a view to Steinmeier’s upcoming visit to the region," the statement read.
The violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani breakaway region with a predominantly Armenian population, escalated on April 2. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of provoking hostilities that led to multiple deaths on both sides. The parties agreed on a ceasefire on April 5.