The impact on civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh was totally irresponsible and outrageous, member of the U.S. House of Representatives Jim Costa told Armenian News – NEWS.am.
The Congressman has joined many of his colleagues opposing the actions the Azerbaijani government took in early April. “I think there has to be a peaceful resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh [conflict], [or] as we say Artsakh. And I am urging the American Government to continue the efforts with the Minsk accords. I know that in August there is going to be another meeting with the Foreign Minister of Russia [Sergey] Lavrov, French Foreign Minister [Jean-Marc Ayrault] and [U.S.] Secretary [of State John] Kerry,” Costa noted.
In his words, Russian President Putin is going to present in Baku to the President of Azerbaijan the principles that had been agreed upon. “And I hope that he is able to convince the President of Azerbaijan to support publicly to his people those principles so that we can achieve a peaceful settlement. But clearly, it’s important to maintain integrity [of Artsakh]. That’s from my perspective; I’m not speaking on behalf of the American Government,” the Congressman stressed.
According to him, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry very much wants to resolve this issue before he leaves office. “He is spending a great deal of time on the details of Nagorno-Karabakh [negotiation process]. He understands it very clearly and is very concerned that what happened in April could reignite because of the tensions that are along the borders – something that nobody would like to see. As you know, we have elections in the United States in November. So I believe Secretary Kerry will do everything he possibly can and see what can be done to reach an agreement,” Jim Costa added.
To the question whether he visited the Nagorno-Karabakh, the Congressman said: “Hopefully in the future I will be able to do that. My next visit may be next year.”
