Andrey Sorokin: USA, Russia and France are ‘Rowing in the Same Boat’ on Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN (Tert.am) — Speaking of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in an interview with Tert.am, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, the Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, said that this is one of the few examples in modern history that the USA, Russia and France are “rowing in the same boat with one another.”

The OSCE Office in Yerevan is working in conformity with its mandate.

“Our office is not dealing with issues pertaining to Nagorno-Karabakh and related issues. However, I can say, the Minsk Group is dealing with it,” Mr Sorokin said.

The entire world is actually dealing with Nagorno-Karabakh and with the region.

“Therefore, the entire world is not interested in further escalation – both indirect escalation or in other events,” he said, mentioning the downing of the Russian warplane and the terrorist act against the Russian passenger plane in Sinai.

“The Islamic State is major threat to the region. They have for a long period been active in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. And the leading nations have combined their efforts to prevent this evil from spreading throughout the world, including this region,” Mr Sorokin said.

As regards an “equality sign” between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Mr Sorokin said:

“If we are working in Armenia and if I sign agreements with the ministry of defense ever day, if we are closely cooperating with the police and other law-enforcement agencies, you must understand what we achieve. On the one hand, it is a kind of guarantee against acts of terrorism or hostilities. On the other hand, our office is not dealing with arms supply or anything like that. We are dealing with human rights in the army, police. This is our contribution to help Armenia society grow healthy and strong.”