The United States believes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group

The United States believes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, U.S. diplomat Stephen Mann, who was appointed in early April as co-chair of the group, told a news conference in Yerevan on Monday. He said that in acting as the U.S. co-chairman of the group, he will be guided by the national interests of the United States. Mann explained that the U.S. wants the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolved through peace talks. Mann met in Yerevan with Armenian President Robert Kocharian, heads of defense and security agencies, and the leader of the self- proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. He said his talks with Kocharian were warm and useful. The U.S. official will travel from Yerevan to Tbilisi and Baku for meetings with the leaders of Georgia and Azerbaijan.