Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The U.S. co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador James Warlick's exclusive interview to AzerNews newspaper and Trend news agency

Question.: What is your estimation of the current status of the negotiation process and can we expect a breakthrough in the talks over the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict this year?

Answer: The reason that I am here in Baku today is to join with my co-chairs and see is there a window of opportunity after elections in Azerbaijan and earlier elections in Armenia. We talked to President Ilham Aliyev this morning [November 4] and will be talking tomorrow [November 5] in Yerevan with President Serj Sargsyan. That is precisely what we will be talking about is whether we can find a way to work together to facilitate the settlement of the conflict.

Q.: Do you have your own view on the conflict resolution after you visited the region?

A.: I believe the people of both countries -- Armenia and Azerbaijan -- deserve peace and we need to find a way to that.The reason I took this job as co-chair is because I believe it is possible to find a way to the peace. I've already visited region for three times and I will come back as many times as necessary if that can help to bring about a peaceful settlement.

Q.: Could you please name the exact date of a next meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia over the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict? What is the progress with the preparations for the talks?

A.: Of course, it is up to the two presidents. It is not decision to be made only by the co-chairs. But we're trying to work to facilitate a meeting this year. This would be a way to open the lines of communication at the highest level. We hope that can lead to real peace process, and to comprehensive negotiations that can lead to settlement that will benefit both countries. We have very positive discussions this morning with President Aliyev and I hope that we will also have similar positive discussions tomorrow. If there is a political will to move forward on the settlement, we are ready to help.

Q.: Do the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs plan to present new proposals at the forthcoming meeting?

A.: What we want to do is to bring the presidents together to talk through the way forward. It's been nearly two years now that the presidents have seen each other. Over these two years, we've not been able to find a way forward. We hope the presidents can meet to have productive discussion, constructive discussion that can find a way forward.

Q.: What is desirable from the parties in the conflict to reach peace?

A.: All of parties to the conflict have said they want to have the comprehensive negotiations. And that what is necessary. It is needed to be a real peace process. The parties agree on negotiations, but the question is how you get them. We are hopeful that if the presidents can talk to each other, they will find a way to move forward into these constructive negotiations. Right now, the process is not moving forward in a productive way and we would like to get that on a track towards peace.

Q.: The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have already mentioned in their statement that the work on Basic Principles on conflict resolution should be finalized first to begin preparing peace agreement. How do you asses the situation in this direction?

A.: This is exactly what the presidents need to talk about. Everyone knows that we need to be in these comprehensive peace negotiations. And how we get there? There is different path. Today we've been working on the Basic Principles. Our job is to facilitate that path into comprehensive negotiations. It will need a decision to be taken by the two presidents.

Q.: It has been suggested to change the format of the OSCE Minsk Group and it was suggested to replace France with the European Union. What is your opinion on this issue?

A.: The parties to the conflict continue to believe working through the Minsk Group and three co-chairs. That says the problem is not the format of the negotiations, this is a matter of political will and whether there is a will of all the parties to move forward to find a settlement. That's what we would like to explore in the coming weeks.

Q.: Both sides to the conflict -- Armenia and Azerbaijan -- held presidential elections this year and both nations re-elected their presidents. So, could the present political situation in both countries create favorable conditions to solve this conflict?

A.: I think the elections create the favorable conditions to move forward. In the case of Armenia, President Sargsyan has a new mandate. He is from Nagorno-Karabakh. He has fought in war himself and has great deal of credibility among his people. So, we hope that he will invest himself in a process that can resolve the long-lasting peace.

President Aliyev has a new mandate from his people. He too has an opportunity now to find this path towards peaceful settlement. And the co-chairs would like to facilitate that. There is a window of opportunity now that hasn't existed for some time. The U.S. believes in this window of opportunity, we want to work as the co-chair and if there is anything we can do on the bilateral basis to help to facilitate peace process, we stand ready.

Q.: How do you assess the chances for peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as compared to other long-standing conflicts, such as Kashmir or Israel-Arabian disputes?

A.: It is hard to compare conflicts, because countries have different circumstances. Before taking this job, I was working in Afghanistan and I was leading negotiations for bilateral security agreement. Those were too difficult negotiations, but we were able to find a way forward. So, with Nagorno-Karabakh, these are difficult negotiations. There is hard choices that have to be made, but this is a conflict that can be solved. The parties have come close in the past. I think the people of both countries deserve to find a way to peace. The time has come. If I can be helpful in facilitating, the U.S. and co-chairs can help to facilitate the process. We are ready to do that.