U.S. urges OSCE to keep resolution of protracted conflicts in focus
By Jamila Babayeva
Concrete and tangible steps in the resolution of protracted conflicts should remain high on the OSCE's agenda, the U.S Department of State said.
"The Organization should continue to play a role in addressing the protracted conflicts in the OSCE space," the department's December 11 statement reads.
"The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Kyiv to continue dialogue on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict; their joint statement with the U.S., Russian, and French heads of delegation, which was endorsed by the OSCE Ministerial Council, is an encouraging sign of our shared commitment to making progress toward a peaceful settlement," the document further reads.
The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts, as well as the Abkhazian and South Ossetian conflict, still remain in the South Caucasus.
Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Armenia constantly violates a ceasefire agreement signed with Azerbaijan in 1994 and refuses to implement the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Georgia and Russia, its giant northern neighbour, have maintained no diplomatic relations since a brief war in 2008. Tbilisi broke off relations with Moscow in August 2008 when Moscow crushed a Georgian assault to reassert control over two rebel regions -- South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- and later recognized the regions. Georgia announced the two unrecognized republics as occupied territories in September 2008.