Baku, Azerbaijan, May 2
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The US will continue to help resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent told reporters in Baku on May 2.
“The US takes its responsibility as one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group very seriously,” he said. “We are very pleased that foreign ministers and leaders had a series of meetings since September. And the most recent meeting was held at the ministerial level in Moscow last month. There were some welcoming confidence building measures. Confidence building measures are very important. We look forward to the opportunity when the schedule works out as one of the co-chairs to host a meeting in Washington. I do not think we have set yet precisely where the next meeting will be. We want to support the process leading to the peaceful solution of the conflict.”
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.