Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Lithuanian Foreign Minister has said the status quo is unacceptable and that the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains a top priority.

Following the 14th meeting of the Cooperation Council between the European Union (EU) and Armenia, Linas Linkevičius said the Council reviewed progress on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Linkevičius said the EU welcomed the recent meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Vienna and their agreement to advance the negotiations toward a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He said both sides reiterated their support to the efforts deployed by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

Presidents Ilham Aliyev, of Azerbaijan, and Serzh Sargsian, of Armenia, met in Vienna on November 19, along with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Linkevičius said the EU confirmed its readiness to further support and complement these efforts by facilitating peace-building activities.

He also expressed concern over incidents on the ground and urged the sides to restrain actions or statements that would heighten tension and impact on the negotiations.

European Parliament earlier adopted a resolution which confirmed that Armenian troops have occupied Azerbaijani territories and urged to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of UN Security Council resolutions and the L'Aquila statement of the mediating countries' leaders in 2009.

According to changes to the resolution, the European Parliament recalled its position that the occupation of territory of an Eastern Partnership member by another member state violates the fundamental principles and objectives of the EU program.

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's four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal have not been enforced to this day.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.