U.S. committed to OSCE MG process to resolve Karabakh conflict
By Rashid Shirinov
The U.S. remains committed to the work of the OSCE Minsk Group to promote a peaceful and sustainable settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley made the remarks on February 22, at the UN Security Council Conflicts in Europe session, the Azerbaijani embassy in the U.S. reported.
The U.S. urges the sides to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict to respect the ceasefire according to the agreements on strengthening confidence-building measures, Haley added.
The U.S. along with Russia and France is one of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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