Thursday, June 30 2016 08:28

In an interview with Artsakhpress, John Evans, the former U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, said It is time for Artsakh to take its place directly at the table of negotiations.

The diplomat said he is not directly involved in the negotiations, but he closely follows the peace process. 

"I am not directly involved in negotiation process. I have great respect for James Warlick. I always follow the  negotiation process conducted by my colleagues, including Russian Foreign Minister Mr.  Lavrov, who always emphasizes that the conflict should be resolved peacefully. Under the ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, Artsakh as a full party to the negotiations, also put its signature. I think the time is approaching when Karabakh should take its place directly at the table of negotiations in the same format. Only in this case conditions for progress will be provided," John Evans said.

To recall, John Evans visited Artsakh within the framework of the working visit of delegation of Children of Armenia fund. The members of the delegation were received by Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan and the Prime Minister Arayik Haroutyunyan.

An Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry representative, Hikmet Hajiyev, the Azerbaijani authorities plan to blacklist former US ambassador to Armenia, John Evans, for a recent visit to Nagorno-Karabakh.  He said they consider Evan's visit as an attempt to exacerbate the situation. Mr Evans has also been criticized for maintaining close contact with the Armenian National Committee of America. "When an ambassador in Armenia, he abused authority, expressing pro- Armenian positions," says the website.