RUSSIA, U.S., FRANCE CALL FOR FINAL PEACEFUL SOLUTION ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Xinhua
Dec 5 2008
China
HELSINKI, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) — Russia, the United States and France
called here on Thursday for an early comprehensive peaceful solution on
Nagorno-Karabakh, a conflict-stricken region breakaway from Azerbaijan.
The three countries, or the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries in
the jargon of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE), made the call on the sideline of the OSCE ministerial meeting
in Helsinki.
In a joint declaration, the three countries urged the parities to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to "build on the positive momentum"
established in the Moscow Declaration on Nov. 2 this year.
"In keeping with the Moscow Declaration, we call on the parties to
work with the co-chairs to develop confidence-building measures,
beginning with pulling back snipers from the Line of Contact to save
lives of innocent civilians and soldiers," said the document.
"We called on the parties to work with the co-chairs to finalize
the basic principles in coming months, and then begin drafting a
comprehensive peace settlement," the joint declaration said.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region with a large Armenian population, declared
independence from Azerbaijan in the early 1990s and has been a source
of conflict ever since.
"We reiterate our firm view that there is no military solution to the
conflict and call on the parties to recommit to a peaceful resolution,"
the joint declaration added.
On the same day, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also stressed
the necessity to coordinate basic principles on the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict.
"We call on the sides jointly with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs
to arrive at an agreement on the basic principles and then start
preparations for a comprehensive peace deal," he said.