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Russian, French, US presidents to continue work on Karabakh settlement

Putin, Hollande and Obama say the use of military power will not bring about a resolution of the conflict

LOS CABOS, Mexico, June 19 (Itar-Tass) – Presidents of Russia, France and the U.S. plan to continue close work with Armenia and Azerbaijan on settling the dragged-out conflict around the Armenian-populated enclave region of Nagorno-Karabakh, says a statement the three countries’ leaders issued here on the sidelines of a G20 summit conference.

The document says, among other things, that Presidents Vladimir Putin, Francois Hollande and Barack Obama urge the parties to the Karabakh conflict, which broke out as far back as the end of the 1980’s, to use the mediating assistance provided by the co-chairmen of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe /OSCE/.

Still, the destiny of peace in the region will depend in the final run on the preparedness of the conflicting sides to reach agreement on the basis of mutual understanding rather than through the attainment of one-sided advantages.

The statement stresses the importance of the awareness that peace implies the common benefits, which it will bring to the future generations of people.

Putin, Hollande and Obama say the use of military power will not bring about a resolution of the conflict but, on the contrary, will prolong the suffering and mischief, which the peoples in Karabakh and around it have been exposed to for quite some time already.

Peace settlement through negotiations is the only instrument that will help find a way out of the deadlock and will ensure a secure future and flourishing of the region, the statement says.

The three presidents express regret over the fact their counterparts in Azerbaijan and Armenia did not take the resolute steps, which Russia, France and the U.S. called for in a statement issued in Deauville May 26, 2011.

Nonetheless, the progress that has been made all the same should give an impetus to the finalization of a framework agreement, which should eventually lead up to general peace, the statement indicates.

Putin, Hollande and Obama called on the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to abide by the obligation to speed up the major principles of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement specified in a declaration issued in Sochi January 23, 2012,

Also, they urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to refrain from airing maximalist positions at the conference table, to observe the 1994 ceasefire agreement and to stay away from the rhetoric fanning animosity.