Warlick: Final Armenia-Azerbaijan deal unrealistic without Karabakh settlement

PanARMENIAN.Net - Former American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick believes a final agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan is unrealistic at the current stage.

According to him, there are a number of outstanding issues, including communication, refugees, borders, natural resource management and other issues.

In a conversation with the Armenian service of the Voice of America, Warlick emphasized the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing that without a determination of the status that will satisfy all the parties, it is impossible to achieve lasting peace.

Warlick clarified that he wasn’t talking about independence for Nagorno-Karabakh, as he did not think the issue was on the negotiating table, especially from Azerbaijan's point of view,

He added, however, that there might be a certain degree of self-determination that would be acceptable to Baku.

According to him, the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by Armenia has been a very difficult issue until now. Today, he said, Armenia is moving in that direction, but it is still unclear how the whole thing will be formulated.