Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 24
Trend:
For the first time after a long period, the leader of Armenia is not from Nagorno-Karabakh, so he must be very careful not to take radical steps in the process of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the former US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Richard Hoagland, said in an interview with Voice of America, Trend reports via Eurasia Daily.
Hoagland expressed his certainty that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a very difficult problem for the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
The best strategy in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to move forward in small steps, the US diplomat said.
Hoagland stressed that he has left the civil service and now presents his personal point of view.
Recent events, including the ongoing dialogue between the parties and the dramatic reduction of clashes on the contact line, inspire Hoogland with some optimism, but the former diplomat advises not to wait for serious breakthroughs.
He noted that the so-called Lavrov plan was not approved by any of the parties. The document on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement proposed by Sergey Lavrov is based on the Madrid principles with some differences.
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.