Azernews.Az

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan refused to attend NATO`s summit in Chicago due to the statement on regional conflicts passed by the North-Atlantic alliance at the two-day event, Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan said in a meeting with the Armenian community in the US city.

In the declaration, adopted on Monday at the key diplomatic summit hosted by President Barack Obama, NATO called on parties to protracted conflicts in the South Caucasus to avoid steps that could undermine regional security and stability. The declaration said NATO members remain committed in their support of the territorial integrity of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova, and will also continue to support efforts towards a peaceful settlement of these regional conflicts, based upon international law, the U.N. Charter, and the Helsinki Final Act.

So far, NATO representatives, when asked about the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, often replied that ``the conflict is being dealt with by the mediating OSCE Minsk Group``, and it is the first time a NATO statement addresses the issue in so much detail.

Armenian Foreign Minister Nalbandyan said that after seeing such detailed expressions in the draft of the declaration, President Sargsyan decided not to join the Chicago summit. Nalbandyan claimed that the content of the alliance`s statement runs counter to the principles of Karabakh conflict settlement stated so far by the Minsk Group co-chair countries.

``This form of expression, in addition to causing problems for Karabakh peace talks, could pose a threat to the situation in the region,`` he charged. ``This could be particularly dangerous in the backdrop of Azerbaijan`s militarist statements.``