U.S. official: Our role is to facilitate contact between parties to Karabakh conflict
As a co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group, the United States is in support of bringing the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict together and the leaders of the countries talking directly, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs within the State Department, George Kent told a news conference in Yerevan.
The official recalled the recent meetings between Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, followed by the talks between Armenian prime minister and Azerbaijan president in Dushanbe, stressing the OSCE Minsk Group assists the establishment of contacts between the parties.
“U.S., Russia and France are the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, and along with Armenia and Azerbaijan are all members of the OSCE. So, all of our countries endorse the OSCE principles, which are also known as the Madrid Principles,” he said.
“The key principles in this case are the non-use of force, territorial integrity and the right of peoples to self-determination. Each country may have their own interpretation but those are the guiding principles for everyone. Our role is to facilitate contact between the parties involved so that they can discuss all the issues and seek resolution,” he stressed.