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Hello. I promised to come back to answer the second set of questions that had been sent
to me. So I'm very happy that you have joined me, and I'll get right to it. The first question,
or the eleventh question, that was sent related to Nagorno-Karabakh and the conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the question from a Russian student was "What will NATO do in
the event of a Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?" The bottom line is we hope that that never
happens. NATO has no intention, no plan, of getting involved in a Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and we're not even involved in the peace process, which is being led by, of course, the two
presidents but also the Russian Federation, the United States, and France in something
called the Minsk Process. That being said, I think there is concern amongst the Allies
at the state of the Minsk Process. We heard from the two presidents here at NATO headquarters
just in the last few weeks that they are committed to the process, they're committed to a peaceful
resolution to the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. But the reality is that the Minsk Process
has had some difficulties, especially recently, and that there is worrying rhetoric between
the two countries and a lot of weapons being purchased by both countries.
This is a region which probably doesn't get as much attention as it deserves from the
international media. It is of critical strategic importance for reasons of its location, for
reasons of its potential, and for reasons of its energy transit and supply role. So
for many, many reasons it's important that this conflict be resolved in a peaceful way
as soon as possible and respecting the principles of international law. So we hope it will be
solved, but to come back to the question in its most pointed way, NATO is not involved
in this crisis, except to support the Minsk group and a peaceful resolution.