Azernews.Az

BAKU – A senior US official has said Washington "strongly believes" that the time has come to endorse the basic principles for settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh and move to the drafting of a peace accord.

"Our joint efforts with the European Union and other international partners in the region have resulted in progress, but disputes over territory and a need for further meaningful political and economic reforms remain serious obstacles to greater stability," US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Gordon said in a testimony to a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday, according to the US Senate website.

Gordon said the U.S. would continue to increase its engagement through the mediating OSCE Minsk Group with Russia and France to help Armenia and Azerbaijan find a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a precarious cease-fire in 1994 following a lengthy war. Armenian armed forces have since occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and its seven surrounding regions. Numerous rounds of negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of the Madrid principles, a peace outline proposed by the OSCE mediators that envisions non-use of force, territorial integrity and self-determination of nations. Baku has generally accepted the Madrid Document, while Yerevan has yet to state a clear-cut stance on the peace outline.