The United States, which is an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair country, does not consider the status of Nagorno-Karabakh resolved. US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy, who was present at the exhibition of handicrafts in Yerevan, reaffirmed that the issue will remain on the agenda of the Minsk Group, which has a mandate and legitimacy for the settlement of the conflict.
“The US is doing everything to bring the parties together under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. The fundamental issues of peace and security require negotiation and diplomacy. Secretary Blinken has made our commitment to this process very clear on several occasions,” says US Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy.
The US Ambassador is focusing also on the issue of the return of the captives. Although ten months have passed since the signing of the trilateral statement, Azerbaijan continues to fail to fulfill its obligation to return the captives, the ambassador stressed, noting that the United States and Russia have had some success in this regard.
“We are hopeful that we will reach a point where all the captives will return,” Tracy says.
Referring to the observation that the Human Rights Defender of Armenia has published an extraordinary report on the murder of Armenian captives in Azerbaijan and the inhuman treatment of them, the diplomat noted that all countries and individuals must respect fundamental human rights.
“We are closely following all such manifestations and will continue to work with all parties to ensure respect for human rights,” Lynne Tracy says.
On September 8, the Human Rights Defender and human rights activists dealing with the captives’ cases released a special English-language report on ‘The responsibility of Azerbaijan concerning the inhuman treatment and torture of Armenian captives’. There is evidence that dozens of Armenian servicemen and civilians under Azerbaijani control were subjected to physical torture and psychological pressure.