Azernews.Az

Talks on settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh are currently at a crucial and complicated stage, the US mediator has said.
Robert Bradtke, who co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group brokering the peace process, said that at this stage, the sides should "look to the future" instead of considering short-term hurdles. The role of the mediating countries’ leaders in these endeavors should be stepped up, he told BBC Radio.
"The US president’s joining the statement issued in Canada and the Secretary of State’s [US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s] visit to the region are evidence that this is happening. Mrs. Clinton used a very nice expression that ‘sometimes final steps toward peace are more challenging’."
Bradtke noted that certain progress has been achieved in peace talks underway between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
"The sides accept that a solution must be based on the Helsinki principles. They accept the six elements articulated twice by Presidents Obama, Sarkozy and Medvedev. These are international guarantees including the interim and final status of Upper Garabagh, return of the occupied [Azerbaijani] territories, a corridor linking Armenia with Upper Garabagh, the right of refugees and displaced persons to return home, and peacemaking.
The US co-chair said the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents have put forth political will to reach peace. He said one of the most challenging issues for the mediators was arranging frequent meetings between the two countries’ leaders. "One of the presidents tells us he wants peace, while the other doesn’t. The same we hear from the other side."
The statement, issued by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy during a G8 summit in Canada, called on the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to finalize the main principles of Garabagh settlement in order to begin drafting a peace accord.
Bradtke reminded that the situation in the Garabagh conflict remains tense.
"This is not a frozen conflict. People continue to be killed along the contact line [of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops]."
Bradtke said the job of a mediator is to contemplate consistent steps aimed at moving the peace process forward.
"Peace is our intent. There are good days and there are bad days on this path. But the main thing is to move forward continuously. This is like a bicycle. If it stops, you fall."
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but over a decade of efforts by the Minsk Group co-chairs have been largely fruitless so far.*