US ENVOY TO ARMENIA WARNS AGAINST RESUMPTION OF HOSTILITIES IN KARABAKH

Arminfo
22 Jul 04

YEREVAN

A resumption of hostilities in the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict will be
disastrous for the whole of the South Caucasus, and there will be no
winner in this war, which is obvious to all the sides to the conflict,
the outgoing US ambassador to Armenia, John Ordway, told a final press
conference today.

He said it is high time to switch from big declarative statements to
an immediate settlement process. At the same time, the US diplomat did
not agree with the fact that the OSCE Minsk Group has lost its
significance and the sides to the conflict can resolve the problem
independently.

The latest events, frequent visits to the region by the cochairs,
their meetings with the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and other
factors show that the OSCE Minsk Group intends to resolve the Nagornyy
Karabakh problem with the help of the political will of the sides to
the conflict.

“There can be absolutely different opinions about the settlement, I
have not conducted an opinion poll, but one thing is indisputable –
all the sides to the conflict are interested in establishing security
and prosperity,” the US ambassador to Armenia said. The longer the
unsettled conflict drags on, the greater is the danger that the
hostilities will resume.

At the same time, Ordway said that despite this, the current status
quo is better than a resumption of the hostilities.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress