NATO supports Minsk group’s efforts in resolving Karabakh conflict

By Asbarez | Tuesday, 16 February 2016

NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai. (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)

NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai. (Source: Public Radio of Armenia)

BAKU (Public Radio of Armenia) — NATO supports the OSCE Minsk Group’s efforts in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai told reporters in Baku Feb.16, APA reports.

“We are not directly involved in the process of resolving [the conflict]. But our position is that we support Minsk Group’s efforts and a peaceful resolution to this conflict,” he added.

Appathurai said he has discussed the current status of the conflict with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

“NATO has a stance with regard to the conflict. The situation along the contact line causes escalation. This is a complicated situation. The Alliance thinks the sides should work to find a peaceful solution,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, OSCE Chairman-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that he does not consider the conflicts in Nagorno Karabakh and Transdniestria “frozen.”

“They bring suffering to people year after year and hamper the development in the corresponding regions,” Steinmeier said in an interview with Interfax.

“We plan to strengthen the ceasefire regimes, reinforce trust and ease the everyday life of the people in the conflict zones, e.g. through intensification of economic exchange,” the German Foreign Minister added.

“As for the Karabakh conflict, the military clashes at the line of contact and at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border cause concern. Germany stands for intensification of negotiations within the framework of the Minsk Group. Creation of a mechanism of investigation of border incidents would be an important step here,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

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