Only peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict possible-OSCE chief.

HELSINKI, June 10 (Itar-Tass) - Only a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict is possible, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said after a meeting of the co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh in Helsinki on Monday. The group is co-chaired be Russia, the US and France. The Finnish Foreign Ministry said the three co-chairmen - Yury Merzlyakov, Matthew Bryza and Bernard Fussier, had informed the chief of the OSCE on the recent meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in St. Petersburg and the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. Stubb expressed support for work of the Minsk Group's co-chairmen, stressing that settlement of conflicts in the OSCE space is one of priorities of the Finnish government and the Organization. He called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to fully use possibilities of the Minsk Group and to seriously discuss the proposals for principles of conflict settlement. The OSCE Minsk Group, which has 11 state members, was founded in 1992 on Russia's initiative, After hostilities died down in 1994, negotiations on a status of Nagorno-Karabakh began. Stances of the sides remain unaltered. Azerbaijan insists on Nagorno-Karabakh's returning to Azerbaijani territories and the refugee return before determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is ready to provide to Nagorno-Karabakh the highest status of autonomy within Azerbaijan. Armenia considers as a priority the political status of Nagorno-Karabakh, without subordination to Azerbaijan, and international recognition of it.