Peacemakers of the occupation: Once again about the inglorious end of the Minsk Group

"No matter how much pressure was put on us during the Second Karabakh War, it was all in vain. Although there were quite a lot of people who wanted to stop us. Firstly, the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the countries that led it at that time. Each of them wanted to stop us for their own reasons. We have been repeatedly pressured for 44 days. These are not ordinary countries, but nuclear powers, permanent members of the UN Security Council. Look who we were up against. Each of them went out of their way to make this occupation permanent, to use it as a tool and, ultimately, to prevent the Azerbaijani people from breathing peacefully. Not only they, but also other countries did not want our victory."

There is no doubt that these words of the President of Azerbaijan, voiced in his speech in Zangilan on May 10, will not be liked in world capitals.

Azerbaijan has indeed been under comprehensive pressure throughout the years of the Karabakh conflict. The country, which was subjected to military aggression, has been under pressure since the early 90s. Moscow, represented by Boris Yeltsin, provided direct military support to the Armenian occupiers, and the United States, with its famous democracy, adopted the 907th Amendment, which absolutely did not meet the logic of what was happening in the South Caucasus. France has also contributed to the support of Armenia. After the Bishkek Agreement was signed in May 1994, these three countries became co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Few people in Baku were surprised by this, because they were well aware of the logic by which further events would develop. The three countries with the largest and most influential Armenian Diaspora were designated as neighbors. Calling it an accident is more than frivolous.

The MG institute itself was created to ensure the interests of the Armenians in this conflict, and not for its fair settlement. Therefore, the Azerbaijani side had to hold its own for all the years of the so-called peace talks. The country has shown incredible resilience, having managed, under such pressure, to get out of the crisis, accumulate power and win. Azerbaijan's restoration of its territorial integrity can be described as a slap in the face to the OSCE Minsk Group. 

When creating the institute of Karabakh dialogues, the OSCE did not particularly think about the triumph of international law, forcing the aggressor to a just peace and other "little things". All MG's activities were focused on maintaining the status quo. Over the years of this status quo, Azerbaijani lands have been subjected to unprecedented vandalism and looting. The three powers, led by their Armenian communities, have never once thought about the fate of Azerbaijanis, victims of ethnic cleansing. Have the three nuclear powers proved unable to force small, weak and dependent Armenia to comply with the UN Security Council resolutions? Surprisingly. And the most amazing thing is the unity of the approaches of the three powers to the Karabakh conflict. There was complete love and mutual understanding between the three capitals, while in similar conflicts in other countries they were, as they say, "at loggerheads."

The MG Co-Chairs have persistently repeated that there is no military solution to this conflict. They wanted to force Azerbaijan to accept the occupation of the former NKAO in order to return the surrounding areas. But not all of them. The appetites of the Armenians were much greater than the former NKAO. And the intermediaries were only too happy to please them. During the period of the so-called peace talks, the term "northern Armenia" came into use. These are the territories north of the former NKAO, which the Armenians have set their sights on. First of all, it is Kalbajar with its largest gold deposit in the Caucasus. But a number of other regions of Azerbaijan, including Dashkesan and Gadabay, also fell under the "northern Armenia". According to "new research" by the Armenian agitprop, these areas were "isolated" from Karabakh in the 20s of the last century in order to leave them to Azerbaijan, but mostly Armenians have always lived there (!!!).

Of course, this was not discussed at the negotiating table, but the very formulation of the issue suggested that if the idea of Karabakh's "independence" and Armenia's abandonment of Kalbajar and Lachin goes ahead, Yerevan will not stop there. And for some reason, we have no doubt that international mediators representing the interests of the Armenian Diaspora will be willing to help in this outrage.

I would like to repeat once again that Azerbaijan's military victory was a real slap in the face to the Minsk Group. After the war, the terrorists hurried to the region, trying to scout the situation and find out if there was any way to turn it around. President Ilham Aliyev received them very coldly and said: "I did not invite the Minsk Group to visit. But when I was informed that the Minsk Group wanted to come, I said: let them come, I don't mind. Maybe they have something to tell me. If you want to say it on camera, then you're welcome. If you don't want to, I'll tell them to leave. Whatever you want. Please, I'm listening to you."

Addressing the depressed diplomats, the Azerbaijani President expressed surprise that the three permanent members of the UN Security Council were unable to use their capabilities and potential to force the Armenians to leave. Couldn't or wouldn't?

It was the end of the Minsk Group. It seems that after that meeting in December 2020, it became clear to everyone that the co-chairs' trips to the region, kebabs in the mountains and gifts from the separatists had come to an end.

On September 1, 2025, the OSCE Council of Ministers decided to close all institutions related to the Minsk process on the Karabakh settlement. This decision was made on the basis of a joint appeal from Azerbaijan and Armenia. Both the institute of Co-Chairs and the institute of the personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office were eliminated. One can imagine how this affected poor Kasprzyk, who was accustomed to collecting dividends from OSCE mediation over the years of trips to the South Caucasus.

33 years of meaningless activities, meaningless meetings and senseless spending of taxpayers' funds in the member states are over.

On the eve of the dissolution of the Minsk Group, President Ilham Aliyev met with residents of Kalbajar and stated that "the Minsk Group is already living out its last days."

The Minsk Group has gone down in history ingloriously, with shame and failure. And silently. Besides, she had nothing to say before.