U.S. Condemns Offensive, Calls for Talks to Resume

WASHINGTON —  Secretary of State Warren Christopher on Tuesday condemned an Armenian military offensive into neighboring Azerbaijan and called for both sides to resume negotiations to end the 5-year-old conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The statement marked the first time that the Clinton Administration has attempted to place blame for any aspect of the bitter ethnic war that began before Armenia and Azerbaijan obtained independence through the breakup of the Soviet Union.

In an offensive that began last week, Armenian forces overran a swath of Azerbaijani territory, including the mountainous Kelbadzhar region connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.

“Last week’s offensive by ethnic Armenian forces in the Kelbadzhar district of Azerbaijan has threatened efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict peacefully and has created additional suffering for the innocent civilian population of the region,” Christopher said in a statement read to reporters by spokesman Richard Boucher.

“The United States government condemns this offensive and has expressed its deep concern about the offensive to the highest level of the government of Armenia and to representatives of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians,” he said. “We have called for the prompt and complete withdrawal of all ethnic Armenian forces from the Kelbadzhar district.

“We call upon all parties to the conflict to refrain from seeking a military solution and to return in good faith to the negotiating table,” he said.

Christopher did not indicate that the United States was prepared to go beyond the verbal condemnation. But his comments seemed to signal U.S. backing for a Turkish-sponsored resolution in the U.N. Security Council calling on Armenian forces to withdraw. U.S. officials said the latest offensive was too blatant to ignore.