16/09/2014 18:30
James Warlick: It is time to take Karabakh talks to another level
It is time to take talks on the Karabakh conflict to another level, the U.S. Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said at a press conference today in Yerevan where he is expected to meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan.
James Warlick said that at the meeting with Serzh Sargsyan, they will continue the discussion that began with the participation of John Kerry in Wales this September. A meeting with foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are scheduled in NYC in two weeks.
James Warlick considered it important that citizens of both countries know how the negotiations are proceeding. We are concerned over the accumulation of weapons and ammunition and the incidents along the Line of Contact, the ceasefire should be respected, he noted.
The U.S. co-chair stressed that he understands that people are a bit angry and the talks have been going on for 20 years, but discussions are needed for final peace.
According to the U.S. diplomat, negotiations on such an important problem cannot be easy. He added that it is time to conduct negotiations in another direction and meetings at the level of presidents or foreign ministers are no longer sufficient.
There should be an official negotiating process. The sides should decide how it should proceed, and we are prepared to support them. We don’t want to predetermine the final result, but we want a process that would result in the problem’s resolution, James Warlick said.
He stressed the importance of meetings at the presidential level. A final solution can only be reached at the level of the two presidents and they should bear responsibility for their solutions, the U.S. co-chair said.
We want all the issues to be discussed at the level of the presidents and foreign ministers. We are working with the sides to reach a consensus over the six provisions discussed at Carnegie Endowment. It will be difficult, but work should be done in this direction, J. Warlick noted.
In his words, the presidents of the two countries should respect the ceasefire and work to prevent the recurrence of the August incidents in the future. He stressed that progress can be made only in case of trust between Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
In response to the remark that there are people in Azerbaijan who want peace, but their president is against it, Mr. Warlick said that both presidents want to find a path to peace. I have always said that peace will lead to a new wave of prosperity in Armenia, he stated.
When commenting on the upcoming meeting of the two presidents in Paris, James Warlick said that mistrust between the sides is a serious problem and presidents need to do everything to deal with it.