The United States as a co-chairing state of the OSCE Minsk Group does everything to facilitate peaceful  settlement of Karabakh conflict, Deputy Assistant Secretary Eric Rubin said during the U.S. Helsinki Commission hearing on Azerbaijan on Wednesday.

“We hope that presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will agree to meet in the near future to continue constructive dialogue began at their summit last November,” he said.

Noting significant role of the OSCE, he noted that U.S. has been working with other co-chairs from Russia and France to move the process forward.

“I think the progress is very possible. The goal now is to see if we can get the meeting of two leaders scheduled in coming month, and we are hopeful and optimistic that it will happen,” he said. “Getting this conflict settled is in the interests of all people involved, populations of two countries, and is a high priority for us”.

Asked whether there could be new ideas for settlement, Rubin noted that all new ideas will look allike Madrid Principles, as there is no other approach but principles of OSCE and UN Charter.