By Rashid Shirinov
Time has come for the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to take steps to strengthen the trust, said Richard Hoagland, Report informs.
The U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, talking to the Voice of America, expressed hope that certain steps will be taken in this direction in near future.
Hoagland noted that the basis for the settlement of the conflict is the search for compromises, which would demilitarize the situation and bring peace, welfare and security to the people of the region.
“The U.S. keeps on working with Russia over this issue, despite the worsening of the relations between the two countries,” he said. “Nothing has changed in our work with each other, the relations between the co-chairs have not altered. Politicians may collide with each other, but we intend to continue the work.”
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, 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.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.