Baku, Azerbaijan, July 8
Trend:
NATO urges the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to reduce the tension and refrain from violence, said the Alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Speaking to reporters before the summit July 8, Stoltenberg said NATO will mention the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the final communiqué of the Warsaw summit, RIA Novosti reported.
“Our message is that we urge both sides [of the conflict] to reduce the tension, to refrain from violence and continue the attempts to find a peaceful solution based on the negotiations,” he added.
“We support all the efforts for finding a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict based on negotiations,” said Stoltenberg.
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.