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OSCE Minsk group to continue work on resolving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Xinhua, October 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

"We will continue to work on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chair James Warlick told news conference here on Saturday.

According to the mediator, the US, France and Russia are working together to achieve a peaceful solution and further discussions will focus on work aimed at finding a solution to the conflict.

"Recently we discussed this issue with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov in Moscow. We remain committed to a common efforts for a comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Warlick said.

"It is imperative for the parties to be committed to further work towards achieving a peaceful solution to the conflict. I know that the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev is ready to work on negotiations and proposals which are already on the table, and is also ready for further discussions with the Armenian leader," he pointed out.

"We would like to follow the commitments made in Vienna and Saint Petersburg, while there remain a few more issues that we should address. All this we will discuss during the next meeting of the Presidents," Warlick said without specifying the date of the upcoming meeting.

"No agreement on the status of Nagorno-Karabakh will be adopted without the return of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan or without negotiations," he emphasized, adding that the "status quo is precarious and it is necessary to work effectively and continue to find ways of peaceful settlement."

The Co-chair expressed hope that the foreign ministers of both countries will meet in the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg.

Ex-Soviet states Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the early 1990s in which thousands were killed on both sides and hundreds of thousands displaced.

In more than 25 years since the ceasefire, everyday gunfire has resulted in periodic deaths of border guards on both sides.

April 2016 saw the worst escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the mid-1990s.

Nagorno-Karabakh has run its own affairs with heavy military and financial backing from Armenia. Armenian-backed forces also hold seven Azerbaijani districts surrounding the region.

A permanent settlement has not been reached yet despite mediation led by France, Russia and the United States. Enditem