One should try not to pour oil on the fire before making evaluations and predictions, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a press conference. He was commenting on a report by the International Crisis Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia Today reported.
Nalbandian said the report's authors present the document as an expert opinion, and different experts may have different opinions on the same subject. Meanwhile, he stressed that these opinions do not always coincide with the real situation.
"Before giving any advice, assessment or predictions, one should try not to add fuel to the fire. Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, above all, one must take into account the expert opinion of the OSCE Minsk Group, which is familiar not only with the evolution of the negotiation process, but also with the present state of affairs," Nalbandian said.
He stressed that, even from the point of expertise evaluations and projections, above all, the opinion of the OSCE Minsk Group should be listened to.
Another report by the International Crisis Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, "Azerbaijan and Armenia: To Prevent War," was published on the organization's website on Feb. 8.
"The focus of the report is to explain what has deteriorated the situation on the contact line in the past year," Europe Program Director of International Crisis Group Sabine Freizer told Trend earlier.
The report is based on the group's research in Azerbaijan and Armenia. The group has been working on this report for four months.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 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.