US Co-chair to the Minsk Group: Political will, confidence are vital for the peace

Washington hopes for the “new efforts and confidence” on Nagorno-Karabakh peace negotiations, top US envoy on the conflict, stated on Wednesday, in an interview with Turan’s Washington DC correspondent.

Ambassador James Warlick, a US co-chair of the Minsk Group, the OSCE body that works on resolving the conflict, called Azerbaijani and Armenian people and the governments for “the decision to work for lasting peace,” prior to his trip to the region.

“My brief experience in the region is that the people that I’ve met want this conflict to be settled. 

They realize that it has taken a toll… I believe that if the conflict can be settled, it can bring a new era of prosperity in the Caucasus. So my message is that we need to find a way where the governments and the people need to work towards that goal,” he said.

Calling the situation in the region “dangerous,” the co-chair pointed on Azerbaijan and Armenia’s upgrading their military capabilities. In the meantime, he added, the conflict has “a mirror of opportunities,” as the political leaderships in both countries are “on the side of peace” and the Minsk Group format.

Now, as the moderators are trying to bring the leaders together, first time in a last year and half, the co-chair said, “level of trust and confidence among the sides are vital.”

“We are going to the region next week with the other co-chairs to meet with both presidents, and we hope that they will decide to meet with each other… It's important to keep the lines of communication open, and they talk productively about the way forward. I hope that the Minsk Group can facilitate that,” he told Turan.

The day and place of potential Aliyev-Sarkisyan meeting will be “up to the presidents”. 

“I hope that it will be very soon, but it depends on them,” he said.

While refraining from providing any details of the dialog process, the co-chair said, it’s needed to “look forward realistically.” 

“What we really need to do right now is to take the practical steps necessary to enter comprehensive peace negotiations and find a settlement… The people of Azerbaijan and Armenia deserve nothing less than that, and that's where I hope we can go. Now is the time,” he said.

On Wednesday, Ambassador Warlick made a surprise appearance at the Washington-based Georgetown University conference on the US, Russia, Iran, and the South Caucasus.

“Nagorno-Karabakh is not a frozen conflict. It might be a forgotten conflict though,” he said in his speech in front of the audience. –25B--