“It was very positive of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to meet first in Vienna then in Saint Petersburg. It is indicative of progress in the talks,” Italian ambassador to Azerbaijan Giampaolo Cutillo said answering questions at an event titled “Ambassador in the audience".

The diplomat said he had some overview of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict before coming to Azerbaijan, adding that he now has come to realize that this is a very important and fundamental issue for every citizen of Azerbaijan.

“…because the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a matter of your sovereignty and territorial integrity. First of all, massive numbers of people died and were forced to flee their homes during the war. So it’s pretty understandable that Nagorno-Karabakh is a national priority for Azerbaijan. As a diplomat representing the Italian government, I have to say that we support peaceful settlement of this conflict. War offers no future but instead may only add to the past pain and destruction,” he stressed.

Cutillo noted that the Minsk Group that consist of the US, Russian, and French co-chairs are supposed to facilitate dialogue between the parties. “Of course, Italy and the European Union have expressed support to the co-chairs’ work.”

According to the diplomat, both Azerbaijan and Armenia are taking steps to cease front line clashes and to strengthen the ceasefire regime.

“It’s necessary to improve the situation. We have said very clearly that the status quo is not a solution. We cannot maintain this situation permanently. The parties must work on practical and concrete bases in order to make progress towards settlement of the conflict. I hope it will lead to solution. To achieve this, we have to build trust, which is not an easy thing to do. Trust cannot be easily rebuilt once it has been lost. Nevertheless, this is an extremely important issue,” said the ambassador.

The ambassador thinks the international community should do its part to help the trust building efforts be a success.

“Italy will begin to chair the OSCE in 2018. I believe we will carry out our chairmanship successfully. I’m sure there will be much advancement till then.

During its chairmanship, Italy will do all it can to contribute to settlement of this conflict,” said the diplomat.