OSCE formally closes Minsk Process following Azerbaijan-Armenia agreement UPDATED

On 1 September 2025, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) formally ended the Minsk Process and related structures, marking a significant shift in the international approach to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Caliber.Az reports, citing a press release by Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry.

The OSCE Ministerial Council’s decision was taken “based on the joint letter of appeal of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia addressed to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office within the framework of the meeting of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia held in Washington D.C. on 8 August 2025, at the invitation and with participation of the President of the United States.”

According to the decision, “the activities of the OSCE Minsk Process, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on the conflict dealt with by the OSCE Minsk Conference, and the High-Level Planning Group are terminated as of 1 September.”

The OSCE Secretariat has been instructed to conclude “the administrative and technical issues arising from the closure of the aforementioned structures no later than 1 December 2025.”

The decision also clarified that “all decisions previously adopted within the OSCE framework in relation to the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict are invalid and not applicable.”

In effect, the closure of these institutions has been formalised, with all OSCE participating states recognising that “the aforementioned institutions, which were once established to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, have become redundant in the new circumstances following the resolution of the conflict.”

The move is widely seen as an international acknowledgement of Azerbaijan’s restored sovereignty. As the statement underlined, “The adoption of the aforementioned decision is not only an indication of the acknowledgment at the international level of the reality that the Republic of Azerbaijan has restored its sovereign control and territorial integrity over its formerly occupied territories, thereby putting an end to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, as well as of the peace agenda advanced by Azerbaijan, but also an important step towards the practical implementation of the agreements reached between Azerbaijan and Armenia on the normalization process at the Washington D.C. meeting on 8 August 2025.”

Looking ahead, Baku reiterated its position on building peace in the South Caucasus, declaring that “the Republic of Azerbaijan will continue its principled and consistent position based on international law, towards strengthening peace and stability in the region.”

The OSCE Minsk Group was established in 1992 with the stated aim of mediating a peaceful settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. Co-chaired by the United States, Russia, and France, the group failed to deliver tangible results for nearly three decades, allowing Armenia to maintain its occupation of Azerbaijani territories in violation of international law and UN Security Council resolutions. The Minsk Process became symbolic of international inaction and double standards, as repeated proposals ignored Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Following Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 Second Karabakh War and the restoration of its sovereignty, the Minsk Group and its related structures lost any relevance, a reality now formally acknowledged with their closure.

By Vugar Khalilov