Despite the discords between the U.S. and Russia, these countries are unanimous over the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the U.S. co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick said in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia on Sept.16.
"We actively collaborate with Russia and Russian co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group and try to find the path leading to peace," the U.S. co-chair said, Armenian Mediamax news agency reported.
The U.S. co-chair touched upon the fact of the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan by Russia, OSCE Minsk Group co-chair country, and stressed that this is not among the issues discussed between the co-chairs.
Warlick stressed that OSCE Minsk Group expressed concern about the escalation of tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and subsequent increase of casualties and once again urged the sides to respect the ceasefire and put an end to the violations.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.