Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11
By Anakhanum Idayatova - Trend:
The US has apparently chosen not to take any significant action in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, Matthew Bryza, the former US assistant secretary for South Caucasus and former US ambassador to Azerbaijan, told Trend May 11.
"It looks like the United States has decided to do nothing as the Minsk Group co-chair," added Bryza.
He noted that Russia took an active role in this process.
The US President Barack Obama didn't issue any statement at all at the moment of serious violence on the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian armies, said Bryza.
"It looks like the US cleans the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to lead the region and this is the big mistake of the US," he added.
The former ambassador said the US could do more for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but it is not a priority for that country.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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