Azerbaijan, Baku, 2 April / Trend corr K. Ramazanova/ The United States is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan, the US Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse told Trend on 1 April.
"We support peaceful and rapid settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," she said.
Derse said that the United States support the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and does not recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven neighbouring districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.