Today Armenia and Azerbaijan are closer to resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute than 20 years ago, said U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Robert Bradtke.

In an interview with RFE/RL he commented on achievements of the OSCE Minsk Group which marks 20 years of intensive mediation in the Karabakh peace process.

 “I don’t think that the problem of our inability to reach a peace agreement has been the format of the Minsk Group or the format of the co-chairs. The problem is that these are very difficult questions. The differences between the sides are very great, and frankly, there’s a lack of trust. Changing the format is not going to address any of those things. Those things will continue,” he said.

Bradtke considers that considerable progress was reached over the recent years.

“There are complications about the sequencing of steps toward a final settlement, about fleshing out some of the details, and as I say, there's this lack of trust which makes it much more difficult to reach agreement,” he added.

According to him, rather than starting over again from some new perspective with some new format, the sides have told the mediators they want to work in this format.

Bradtke stressed that the status quo on Karabakh is unacceptable and the conflict must be resolved.

“We must make progress in resolving this conflict. We cannot in 20 years look back and see the same situation we have today,” he emphasized.

”So as I say, if you step back from this process and you look at it objectively, the sides are actually closer than they think they are. If we can move in this period ahead -- in this year, particularly -- to create this sense of common partnership in finding a peaceful solution [and] recognizing how to address the concerns of the other side, then I think we can make some progress.”