The status of Nagorno-Karabakh is the subject of international negotiations and the OSCE Minsk Group, Coordinator of US Assistance to Europe and Eurasia of the US Department of State Alina Romanowski told reporters in Baku.
Assistance provided by the US Department of State to Nagorno-Karabakh is made solely for the purpose of clearance of the territory from mines, and will be continued until these lands are not completely cleared of mines, she said.
In this regard, the United States is negotiating with independent companies and not with the de facto authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh, Romanowski said.
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.
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