The United States hopes that the Azerbaijani Government will be able to 'resist the view that the restoration of military operations' is 'practical option of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict', ITAR-TASS quoted Daniel Fried, the US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, as saying.
Addressing the hearings at the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Fried stated that ' Washington has already expressed its anxiety over bellicose rhetoric by some Azerbaijani leaders'. 'We called on the Azerbaijani Government to focus on the peaceful settlement of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh," he said.
According to Fried, 'looking for the ways of the peaceful settlement of this dispute is one of the key problems of Azerbaijan'. "The United States, as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, is actively striving for the peaceful settlement of this problem," he said. Though we support territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, we believe that the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined by means of talks and compromises including international judicial and political principles".
According to Fried, 'an important step for moving forward talks was made by the Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serj Sarkisan during their first meeting in St. Petersburg on 6 June which aimed at discussing ways of settlement of the conflict". "Both parties confirmed their commitment to continue work within the Minsk Group and expressed their preparedness to continue discussions over 'basic principles' - the document worked out with the assistance of the Minsk Group which sets forth peaceful settlement conception".