UN hails efforts leading to peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

By  Trend

The United Nations on Friday issued a statement, welcoming efforts leading to peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Xinhua reported.

Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a press release that the UN had noted the recent statements by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and expressed "full support" for the call to the sides to refrain from any actions that would undermine the ceasefire agreement.

"We welcome all efforts to reduce the level of tensions and call on all sides to demonstrate the necessary political will to resume substantive negotiations leading to a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said.

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.