YEREVAN (Reuters)–Armenia’s president said Wednesday he hoped the West would focus on solving the 11-year-old Nagorno-Karabakh conflict when NATO’s military operation in Yugoslavia ends.
Robert Kocharian told a news conference the international community was likely to do more to solve the issue of the disputed Karabakh region after peace was finally brought to the Balkans and ethnic problems were solved in Serbia’s separatist province of Kosovo.
"These events will definitely positively influence on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict," said Kocharian.
Kocharian said that although he did not necessarily embrace the concept of NATO acting as a unilateral imposer of order–Armenia–which has a close strategic relationship with Russia–could not ignore the alliance’s power either.
"We are not enthralled by the new NATO doctrine–but it is a reality which we cannot influence. Neither can we not take it into account," he said.
