No one wants conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to enter hot phase - Lavrov

MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. No one wants the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh to enter the hot phase, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday after talks with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan. "We do not even allow ourselves to think that the conflict may enter its hot phase," Lavrov said. "I am convinced that, despite the rhetoric, no one from the interested parties wants this," he added. "All actions are directed at finding a mutually acceptable solution as soon as possible," the foreign minister stressed. Consultations on this issue are held regularly, Lavrov added. "Representative of co-chairing countries [in the OSCE Minsk Group] often visit the region, including the capitals of Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the line of contact. The presidents of co-chairing countries pay personal attention to searching for ways of settlement [of the conflict]," he noted. "Our president took special measures last year, after which consultations continued on possible practical steps. They would allow the implementation of process of ending the conflict that benefits no one, which would make Transcaucasia the region of cooperation without any blockades, sanctions, restrictions," Lavrov said. "Everyone will benefit from this, including our Armenian friends," he noted. There is no alternative to negotiations in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan said on Wednesday. "Up to this day, Azerbaijan has been refusing the proposals of co-chairs of the Minsk group both on settling the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and on strengthening trust-building measures," Nalbandyan noted. "However, there is no alternative to talks," the foreign minister stressed. The mountainous area of Nagorno-Karabakh remains a so-called "frozen conflict" on the post-Soviet space as it is the subject of a dispute between Azerbaijan where the region is located and its ethnic Armenian population. In 1988 a war broke out there between Azerbaijani troops and Armenian residents, which resulted in the region's de facto independence. In 1994 a ceasefire was reached but the relations between the two states are still strained. Russia, France and the US co-chair the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which attempts to broker an end to hostilities and the conflict. Read more