US Deputy Assistant State Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs John Tefft has stated that «Armenia and Azerbaijan still have considerable differences over the Nagorno Karabakh issue, but Presidents of the two countries Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev abide by the stand of peaceful settlement of the conflict.» In the words of the American diplomat, «the US contributes to the OSCE Minsk Group efforts and is inspired by the talks held last year.»