Epress.am News from Armenia
"Karabakh is extremely beautiful, and I was impressed by these young people. It is our common duty to make sure there is peace here and the new generation lives in peace," said OSCE Minsk Group US Co-Chair James Warlick to reporters after meeting with President of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Bako Sahakyan on May 18 and referring to residents of Berdzor (Lachin) greeting the co-chairs with a protest. This is stated on the Karabakh-open.info Facebook page.
Recall, residents blocked the road, protesting the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs' recent joint statement. They were also outraged by US Co-Chair James Warlick's May 7 statement outlining the six points necessary for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
"For me, it was unexpected. Nevertheless, I got out of the car, and we had a very useful discussion with the participants," said Ambassador Warlick.
According to him, they respect people's right to present their demands peacefully. The worst case scenario, he said, is the resumption of hostilities, which means that, despite the possible differences, all should try to find a way out.
As for the 6 points, Ambassador Warlick said they are not news. "These were spoken about also in the past — by the presidents of the co-chair countries. Of course, this is not the final version, we still need to discuss it, but they can serve as a basis for further negotiations," he said, adding that hiding this from the people is wrong.
"The people of Nagorno-Karabakh have the right and deserve to know all this and express its agreement or disagreement. And we think that this is the basis for honest dialogue," he said.