U.S. top official: Time has come to endorse basic principles of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution

(Trend) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Philip Gordon believes the time has come to finalize and endorse the Basic Principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution and move to the drafting of a peace agreement, the U.S. senate reported.
"Our joint efforts with the European Union and other international partners in the region have resulted in progress, but disputes over territory and a need for further meaningful political and economic reforms remain serious obstacles to greater stability," Gordon said speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs on May 18.
He said the United States will continue to increase its engagement through the Minsk Group with Russia and France to help Armenia and Azerbaijan find a peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.