US urges Baku, Yerevan to act quickly towards NK peace

A top US diplomat urged last week Azerbaijan and Armenia to act quickly towards settling the long-running territorial dispute between the two countries, TURAN's Washington DC correspondent reports.

"We hope that the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will accept French President Hollande's offer to meet soon in Paris. Swiss President Burkhalter's call for "structured negotiations" is also an opportunity for the sides to advance the peace process," Brent Hartley, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs, stated in Vienna at the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference.

Track II efforts to build people-to-people contacts between the two nations "can also contribute to a lasting settlement by helping citizens of both countries prepare for peace," he emphasized, adding that as one of the MG Co-Chairs, the US "remains committed at the highest levels to this process."

In his speech, Amb Hartley also mentioned the OSCE's significant experience in dealing with situations where one participating state maintains forces on the territory of another without that state's consent.

"The crisis in Ukraine... has confirmed the role this organization has in addressing conflicts in this OSCE space. It has also exposed weaknesses that must be addressed. We must be prepared to take the steps needed as an organization and as individual participating States to address some of the most pressing dangers to European security today," he said urging the OSCE to reinvigorate the conversation on the protracted conflicts.-25B-