The Karabakh conflict should be solved on the basis of three principles of the OSCE Helsinki Final Act, namely, peoples’ right to self-determination, territorial integrity of countries and non-use of force, British Ambassador to Armenia Charles Lonsdale stated at a June 28 press-conference.

According to him, for a long-term settlement of the conflict to be reached the parties must be satisfied. The Ambassador stressed Great Britain is not authorized to resolve the Karabakh conflict and does not wish to impose its stance on the conflicting parties.

Great Britain is committed to the OSCE Minsk Group efforts aimed at resolving the conflict, he said.

According to him, the June 18th incident on the line of contact between the NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces once again proved the importance of the talks. He expressed hope such incidents in the conflict zone will not henceforth take place. He urged the parties to refrain from the use of force and belligerence. The Ambassador also called on the sides to be closely involved in the negotiations, stressing Great Britain backs the Obama, Sarkozy and Medvedev statement on further talks.

Referring to the PACE Resolution on South Caucasus, Lonsdale said Great Britain is against any change of OSCE MG format, as the mediator countries are quite familiar with the Karabakh issue. As for the PACE Resolution, the Ambassdor emphasized the document does not reflect the official position of the CoE member states, but that of some parliamentarians’ from these states.