Any settlement of Karabakh conflict to require return of some portion of “occupied territories”: U.S. Ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills does not think the Karabakh conflict settlement is possible without “return of some portion of occupied territories.”

In an interview to EVN Report Mills said that the Armenian people will have to decide what way of resolving conflict they are prepared for.

“I was surprised when I first got here and found out that most Armenians I met were adamantly opposed to the return of the occupied territories as part of a negotiation settlement.” He noted that return of land was one of the core principles of the Madrid Principles. “It has long been my government’s understanding of why the occupied territories were originally seized; they would be land for a peace option,” he said. “So I was very surprised that there was no support for that anymore.”
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He says he understands how events like the 2016 April War make this even more difficult for the Armenian people, but “the harsh reality is that any settlement is going to require the return of some portion of the occupied territories.”