Georgia, Tbilisi, June 11 /Trend N.Kirtzkhalia/
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is not conducive to security in the region, deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Nino Kalandadze said at a news briefing in Tbilisi on Monday, answering a question about the escalation of tensions on the border between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
Kalandadze said the security situation in South Caucasus "is very fragile" due to existing conflicts in the region.
"The international community knows it however and in the first place, leaders of the three South Caucasus countries know about it," the deputy minister noted.
"I am confident that all parties fully understand how the Karabakh problem is complicated, how serious the consequences of armed conflict would be for the entire region and how difficult a situation in the region it can be in terms of the development of our countries," she said.
Kalandadze noted that there is always a theoretical risk of an escalation of tensions under current conditions to which all must be sensitive.
"I am convinced that the both states are sensitive to this issue," Kalandadze said, stressing that the Georgian authorities are in constant contact with Baku and Yerevan.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the 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.