Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 1
Trend:
New opportunities have emerged for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as stated in an interview with the "Voice of America" (VOA) radio station by James Warlick, former US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Warlick said that the current new situation opens up new opportunities for resolving the conflict.
Speaking about the "new situation", the ex-co-chair added that he was referring to new opportunities which have appeared with the change of power in Armenia, saying that he is sure that, in these conditions, the co-chairs are “working towards” organizing an official meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
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.