NO MILITARY SOLUTION TO KARABAKH CONFLICT- SAYS OUTGOING US AMBASSADOR
YEREVAN, December 19. / ARKA /. The outgoing US ambassador to Armenia
John Heffern reiterated today that there is no military solution to the
long-running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Speaking at a farewell news
conference in Yerevan he said he had to repeat the statements by the
OSCE Minsk Group that the Karabakh conflict has no military solution,
and there is only one way to settle it - it is through peace talks.
However, he stressed that the OSCE Ming Group is acting as a peace
broker and can not impose a solution option on the parties to the
conflict.
"By and large, it all depends on the conflict parties themselves,"
said the diplomat.
According to him, the US hopes that the strategic South Caucasus region
will sooner or later become open, and that Washington, for its part,
is ready to help resolve the conflict and open borders.
He said the US wants to help Armenia to become a strategically
important country with new possibilities and alternatives. According
to him, the US and EU are willing to deepen cooperation with Armenia
in any sphere where Armenia will demonstrate political will.
According to him, even though Armenia is a member of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), it also effectively cooperates
with NATO and is willing to continue cooperation with the West on
mutually beneficial terms, which is natural, "because there are no
winners and losers."
He stressed that Washington will continue helping Armenia to build
up democracy and strengthen human rights, rule of law and free media.
He said cooperation between Washington and Yerevan is strong and is
based on real values. According to him, Washington wants to have deep
ties with Armenia; to help it develop the skills of young people,
in particular, IT innovators, because the US believes that the future
of Armenia is in knowledge-based economy.-0-
http://arka.am/en/news/politics/no_military_solution_to_karabakh_conflict_says_out going_us_ambassador/#sthash.wVZArBEK.dpuf
YEREVAN, December 19. / ARKA /. The outgoing US ambassador to Armenia
John Heffern reiterated today that there is no military solution to the
long-running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Speaking at a farewell news
conference in Yerevan he said he had to repeat the statements by the
OSCE Minsk Group that the Karabakh conflict has no military solution,
and there is only one way to settle it - it is through peace talks.
However, he stressed that the OSCE Ming Group is acting as a peace
broker and can not impose a solution option on the parties to the
conflict.
"By and large, it all depends on the conflict parties themselves,"
said the diplomat.
According to him, the US hopes that the strategic South Caucasus region
will sooner or later become open, and that Washington, for its part,
is ready to help resolve the conflict and open borders.
He said the US wants to help Armenia to become a strategically
important country with new possibilities and alternatives. According
to him, the US and EU are willing to deepen cooperation with Armenia
in any sphere where Armenia will demonstrate political will.
According to him, even though Armenia is a member of the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), it also effectively cooperates
with NATO and is willing to continue cooperation with the West on
mutually beneficial terms, which is natural, "because there are no
winners and losers."
He stressed that Washington will continue helping Armenia to build
up democracy and strengthen human rights, rule of law and free media.
He said cooperation between Washington and Yerevan is strong and is
based on real values. According to him, Washington wants to have deep
ties with Armenia; to help it develop the skills of young people,
in particular, IT innovators, because the US believes that the future
of Armenia is in knowledge-based economy.-0-
http://arka.am/en/news/politics/no_military_solution_to_karabakh_conflict_says_out going_us_ambassador/#sthash.wVZArBEK.dpuf