Azernews.Az

Friday March 29 2024

Washington stands for progress in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement

25 November 2015 12:19 (UTC+04:00)
Washington stands for progress in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement

By Sara Rajabova

The United States wants to see a rapid progress in the negotiation process over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Bridget Brink, the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs told reporters in Baku that Washington supports the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on organization of the meeting of presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia before late 2015.

She assessed the work of the OSCE Minsk Group to be sufficiently active, highlighting the work of U.S. co-chair James Warlick.

“U.S. ambassador in the OSCE Minsk Group format James Warlick demonstrates diligence and interest in solving the conflict,” Brink said.

The U.S. is one of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries along with France and Russia, which have been tasked to mediate between the conflicting sides for peaceful resolution of the problem.

She further noted that the peaceful resolution of the conflict is in the interests of both Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as the whole region.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.

Meanwhile, the U.S. department official also clarified Washington’s financial aid to occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Alina Romanowski, the coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia of the state department said the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is the subject of international negotiations and the OSCE Minsk Group.

“Assistance provided by the U.S. Department of State to Nagorno-Karabakh is made solely for the purpose of clearance of the territory from mines, and will be continued until these lands are not completely cleared of mines,” she said.

Romanowski said the U.S. is negotiating with independent companies in this regard and not with the de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh.

--

Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more