Daniel Fried: "Possible war in the South Caucasus will become disaster for the region"

He noted that Washington was interested in the urgent return of Azerbaijanis to their native lands. "At present Azerbaijan adheres to clear and strong position reflecting national interests of the country. Nevertheless, the approach doesn't hinder continuation of constructive negotiations," he stressed. According to Fried, none of the sides can achieve wishful result by 100 percentages and it is necessary to find more acceptable version of the regulation of the conflict.

As to the parliamentary elections in November 2005, Fried stressed the US was disappointed that the last elections did not meet their expectations fully and called on the Azerbaijani authorities to hold re-run elections in the all constituencies, where violations were revealed. "Our observers will participate in the monitoring of the May elections to the Milli Majlis," he said.

Fried noted that integral attribute of strong state is strong position. "We want Azerbaijan to be strong state," he underlined.