Azerbaijan, Baku, July 1 / Trend /
NATO's position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is very clear: the conflict cannot be resolved militarily, and the use of force will only result in the loss of military potential for all parties, as well as the collapse of political and economic components, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai believes.
"We will continue to support all parties so that they follow the diplomatic process", Appathurai said in an interview with ArmInfo.
He said NATO maintains that there are no winners if the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to be resolved militarily.
"Of course NATO is not involved in the negotiations, but if we talk in general terms I would like to make a few comments: we are all disappointed that the presidents' Kazan meeting failed to achieve a significant progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Kazan meeting was a good opportunity to achieve substantial progress and unfortunately, it did not happen. The only way forward is a diplomatic way," Appathurai said.
The Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia discussed the basic principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in Kazan. The presidents' summit ended without reaching agreements on the basic principles, but presidents each mentioned that there is some progress toward attaining this goal, a joint statement after the summit in Kazan said.
Appathurai said that the diplomatic way is the only way to a balanced and mutually acceptable resolution.
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 seven 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 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.