Karabakh status remains unresolved, says US Ambassador to Armenia

_By Emilio Luciano Cricchio _

Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan is not over and the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh remains unresolved, US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy told reporters during her visit to the bordering Syunik region on August 23.

Those areas have been the site of recent incursions by Azerbaijani forces, which have resulted in violent clashes and multiple deaths.

Ambassador Tracy told reporters that the US will work as part of the OSCE Minsk Group to de-escalate the situation and work towards a final settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The OSCE Minsk Group, chaired by the US, France, and Russia, was set up to find a final solution to the Karabakh conflict.

This is not Ambassador Tracy’s first visit to the region. In July, she traveled to the border areas of the Gegharkunik region where ceasefire violations were also registered. She furthermore visited the Syunik region in April and August.

“I want to make it clear that we call for the de-escalation of the situation so that the violence ends as soon as possible,”she said.

This comes as a number of ambassadors stationed in Armenia, including Russian Ambassador Sergey Kopirkin and EU Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, traveled the border areas which have been the site of recent cross border tensions.

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Lavrov: Future Status of Karabakh Remains Unresolved

By Emilio Luciano Cricchio

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated again in a June 9 press conference that the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh needs to be resolved at a future date, adding that Armenia and Azerbaijan first need to build trust and learn to live side by side.

The status of Nagorno-Karabakh pertains to what sort of entity it will be if and when a peaceful resolution of the conflict is reached. Karabakh could have a status as an independent state, a region of Armenia, an autonomous region, or some other formulation.

“[The question of status] should be finally agreed on with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, who at this stage should probably not raise the issue, but contribute to strengthening confidence-building mechanisms.” Lavrov said.

The OSCE Minsk Group is a body founded in 1992, to encourage a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and consists of three co-chair countries, France, the US and Russia.

Lavrov noted that when trust-building mechanisms are in place, then the status question can be raised.

In January 2020, Lavrov had already made a statement in which he had said that the issue of status “remains for the future.” And in response to a question posed by an Azerbaijani journalist during the same month, the Russian foreign minister responded that no one can deny the connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Lavrov furthermore said that separating Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh has not been discussed during any negotiations and that Azerbaijan is in agreement on this issue.

According to him, the lack of major violent incidents in Karabakh is a positive trend, and it’s not impacted by tensions in some parts of the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border.

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