January 25, 2014 - 17:44 AMT
Azerbaijan’s provocative actions raise int’l concern

The United States remains deeply committed to working with the sides to achieve a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Deputy Spokesperson of the U.S. Department of State said.

“We’ve seen the reports [on the ongoing shootouts along the line of contact] and regret any loss of life anywhere, but certainly here as well. And our position remains that the use of force will not resolve this conflict. We call on all parties to refrain from the use or threat of force. We remain deeply committed to working with the sides to achieve a peaceful settlement of the conflict. That’s certainly our goal. That hasn’t changed. We know it’s difficult, but we’ll keep working on it,” Marie Harf told a daily press briefing on Friday, Jan 24.

Meanwhile, according to ArmeniaToday, the British embassy in Armenia also expressed concerns over the recent incidents at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Indian ambassador Suresh Babu also dwelled on the Karabakh conflict during a press conference in Yerevan. “We believe that the conflict should be resolved through peaceful negotiations and we welcome the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group,” Panorama.am quoted him as saying.

Commenting on the situation, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that “although hostilities are unlikely, we will fight if war is imposed on us.”

“The combat readiness of our army is high enough. Our commanders and ordinary soldiers develop their positions, setting traps and different kinds of alarms, to prevent any attack. We also replenish our ammunition depots… We don’t want war and we do our utmost to resolve the problem through peaceful means, but we will fight if we have to,” President Sargsyan said.