The speech of US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick contained a message not only to Yerevan and Baku, but to Karabakh as well, Thomas De Waal, a well-known expert on Caucasus, told Armenian News–NEWS.am correspondent.

Mr. De Waal, who is a Senior Associate within the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, commented on the speech of James Warlick, delivered on May 7 at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington DC.

“There was a message to Yerevan not to be cautious and to consider higher-level negotiations on the major issues, to “take that last, bold step”, de Waal said. There was also an explicit reference to the “occupied territorie” and the need for their return and a message that the Lachin Corridor cannot include the whole of Lachin region, the expert added.

For Baku, he noted, there was a message that a vote on final status is “not optional”, and that “Interim status will be temporary”. Also, there was support for Track II initiatives, despite the Azerbaijani government’s latest crackdown and a call for a stronger mandate for monitors on the Line of Contact.

“For the Karabakhi there was a positive message that any enduring peace agreement must reflect the views of all affected parties”, the expert told. He disagreed with the suggestion that ambassador Warlick's recognition of the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons referred only to ethnic Azerbaijanis. “Contrary to what you say, for Armenian refugees there was a clear reference that ‘an enduring settlement will have to recognize the rights of all IDPs and refugees to return to their former places of residence’. Although, of course, it is expected that many will not seek to claim that right but will seek some kind of compensation instead», de Waal added.

To remind, the reference to the territories surrounding the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Republic as “the occupied territories” (“the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh should be returned to Azerbaijani control”), pronounced in Warlick's speech, triggered an utterly negative reaction in Armenia.