Envoy: MG co-chairs work hard to bring sides of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict together

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs continue to work hard to bring the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict together, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Robert Cekuta told reporters in Baku on November 9.

He noted that the MG co-chairs are working on a new meeting of the foreign ministers and presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The diplomat added that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may have only peaceful solution within the framework of international law: “There is no military solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”

Two meetings between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia took place after the "Four-Day War" in April this year. After the meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg in May and June 2016, the presidents were expected to meet in August also; however, it did not happen due to ignoring from the Armenian side, which tries to hinder the negotiations process.

After visiting the region in late-October, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs said they plan to set up a meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in the framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg with a view to meet the presidents of both countries at the earliest opportunity.

The Azerbaijani side has already given its consent for the meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister. The meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council will take place on December 8-9.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.