The status quo on Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unsustainable and peaceful resolution with negotiations and compromises is increasingly needed, President of the European Council Donald Tusk said July 22.
He made the remarks during the joint press conference with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Baku.
“It’s clear for me and for the EU that the status quo is in fact unacceptable,” he said. “I was very clear also in Yerevan two days ago.”
“What we need is of course a peaceful resolution,” said Tusk. “There’s no alternative and it’s not only my opinion.”
“I think that today we need to avoid not only military actions but also radical language and aggressive rhetoric,” said the president of the European Council.
“We have to avoid this rhetoric because war and hot conflicts – this is the last thing we need,” he added.
Tusk said that the situation in Ukraine is maybe the best of the worst examples of this kind of politics and also ideology of aggression.
Furthermore, he said that the EU supports the efforts of OSCE Minsk Group as the internationally established format for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The principles and conflict settlement elements proposed by the presidents of Minsk Group co-chairing countries is a basis for peace, according to Tusk.
“Maybe we need more patience, but for sure, we do everything we can to have a peaceful resolution as I mentioned,” he added.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Trend