Minsk Group era ends: OSCE applauds cooperative step by Baku and Yerevan

The decision to close the OSCE Minsk Group is a vital step supporting the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

According to domestic media, Finnish Foreign Minister and OSCE Chair-in-Office Elina Valtonen made the statement at the 32nd Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council.

“I have witnessed positive progress in the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. In August, we made the decision to close the OSCE Minsk Group and its related structures. This is a vital step that supports the peace process and also removes a major obstacle in approving the OSCE budget,” Elina Valtonen noted.

It should be recalled that the OSCE has completed the closure of the Minsk Process and its associated structures.

On September 1, 2025, the OSCE Permanent Council adopted the decision to terminate the OSCE Minsk Process and its related structures.

The Minsk Group was established in 1992 by a decision of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the precursor to the OSCE) with the aim of facilitating a peaceful settlement to the Karabakh conflict. In 1994, a co-chairmanship format was introduced, comprising Russia, the United States, and France, which remained in place for nearly three decades.

For much of that time, the Minsk Group was regarded as the primary international platform for negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. However, following Azerbaijan's victory in the 2020 Patriotic War, the group’s relevance rapidly diminished. Its role was rendered effectively obsolete after September 2023, when Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and full sovereignty, and officially declared the conflict resolved through its own means.

Baku had since made multiple appeals for the formal dissolution of the Minsk Group, urging Yerevan to jointly petition the OSCE to terminate the long-standing, yet largely defunct, mediation framework.

This diplomatic turning point came on August 8, 2025, when the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a joint appeal in Washington calling for the closure of the Minsk process and all associated structures.

By Tamilla Hasanova