Two Armenian soldiers have been killed on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan's Nakhcivan's Autonomous Republic. Armenian sources say that the two soldiers were killed by Azerbaijani sniper fire. The area was the scene of a similar incident earlier this week in which an Azerbaijani soldier died. The soldiers were 26 year old Andranik Yegoyan and twenty-two year old Boris Gasparyan. Despite cease fire that has been in place for the last twenty years daily incidents are resulting in increasing fatalities on both sides.

G7 Communique states that "Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, and actions to de-stabilise eastern Ukraine are unacceptable and must stop."

Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, who is also current Chairman of the OSCE, had discussions with the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, and also met the leadership of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

An Azerbaijani soldier was killed on Tuesday as a result of violation of the cease fire by the Armenian side according to Azerbaijani military sources. The incident happened in the Nakhchivan sector of the border with Armenia. The victim was a 19 year old conscript from Terter Region, Zaur Hasanli. There is no comment on the incident yet by the Armenian side. Both sides in the conflict regularly accuse each other of violating the cease fire that has been in affect for twenty years.

The President of the Swiss Confederation and current head of the OSCE proposes the "start of structured negotiations leading to a peace agreement".

The Abkhaz President Alexander Ankvab has resigned after being removed from office by the Parliament of the self declared Republic. Ankvab declared the decision unconstitutional but said that he had agreed to resign for the sake of stability. The Chairman of the Abkhaz Parliament Valery Bganba has been appointed Interim President. Elections for a new President will be held on 24 August. In the meantime Russia has promised that it will continue to support Abkhazia militarily and financially.

The President of the Swiss Confederation and current Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE will focus on the unresolved conflicts and human rights concerns during his visit.

The Armenian leader said that the issue of Karabakh joining the Eurasian Economic Union as part of Armenia was never under discussion. He described the comments of the Kazakh President in Astana as "unpleasant" but not damaging.

In the self declared Republic of Abkhazia opposition leader Raul Khadzhimba has said the President, Alexander Ankvab, is no longer legitimate and his powers have been transferred to the parliament and the Provisional Council of People’s Trust. The local security forces however seem to remain loyal to Ankvab who is reported to have taken refuge in the Russian base in Gudauta. Russian officials who arrived from Moscow on Wednesday, are continuing with efforts to broker an agreement between the two sides. The politicial stand-off is an embarrassment for Russia which is one of a handfull of countries that recognises Abkhaz independence.

At a meeting with international experts, held in Bern earlier this week, the diplomats were encouraged to take bolder measures in their efforts to break the current impasse, and help bring the sides to the next step of negotiations.