Lasting resolution to Karabakh conflict by force is impossible, US ambassador says
11.02.2016,
18:54
A lasting resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by force is impossible, US ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills said today during an online news conference.
YEREVAN, February 11. /ARKA/. A lasting resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by force is impossible, US ambassador to Armenia, Richard Mills said today during an online news conference.
He said the aggravation of the tension on the contact line and the bellicose rhetoric are of serious concern to the US government. According to him, the likelihood of exacerbation of the tension is high because of an incorrect calculations or a simple error.
He said this is why the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs urged the parties to take steps to reduce the tension on the contact line and establish a mechanism for tight monitoring of the situation.
He added that the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick is working together with other co-chairs for the continuation of the dialogue.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. -0-
He said the aggravation of the tension on the contact line and the bellicose rhetoric are of serious concern to the US government. According to him, the likelihood of exacerbation of the tension is high because of an incorrect calculations or a simple error.
He said this is why the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs urged the parties to take steps to reduce the tension on the contact line and establish a mechanism for tight monitoring of the situation.
He added that the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick is working together with other co-chairs for the continuation of the dialogue.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. -0-
