US envoy regrets misunderstanding caused by Karabakh remarks

Mediamax news agency
28 Feb 05

Yerevan, 28 February: The United States embassy in Armenia today
disseminated a statement of Ambassador John Evans which says that
his recent remarks on Nagornyy Karabakh status "may have created
misunderstanding of US policy".

During his meeting with American Armenians in University of California
Berkeley on 19 February, John Evans said that although the USA
follows a policy of supporting the territorial integrity of nations,
"everybody realizes that Karabakh cannot be given back to Azerbaijan
since that would be a disastrous step".

The statement disseminated in Yerevan today reads that "the US
government supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and holds
that the future status of Nagornyy Karabakh is a matter of negotiation
between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

"The United States remains committed to finding a peaceful settlement
of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict through the [OSCE] Minsk Group
process. We are encouraged by the continuing talks between the foreign
ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan under the auspice of the Minsk
Group co-chairs," ambassador Evans noted, saying "I deeply regret
any misunderstanding caused by my comments".