Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 24 / Trend A. Badalova/
Azerbaijan and Latvia entered a new stage of cooperation, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said at a lecture on "Latvia's perspective on deepening dialog between the EU and Azerbaijan" at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy on Friday.
"We are on the new stage of cooperation between the two countries," Rinkevics said.
He said active political dialog and trade volumes are the evidence to that. He said Latvia, as well as the EU, as whole are willing to strengthen the relations with Azerbaijan.
Rinkevics said Latvia supports the soonest resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict according to international law and the Helsinki basic principles.
He stressed that the EU is the largest trade partner of Azerbaijan and it welcomes every initiative to make the ties with Azerbaijan closer.
Rinkevics also stressed that Latvia is ready to be as much helpful as it can with regard to the Azerbaijan's integration to the EU.
Talking about the cooperation in energy sphere he said Azerbaijan plays an important role in the EU energy strategy. Rinkevics underscored that Latvia supports any project within the Southern gas corridor, which will bring benefit equally both to Azerbaijan and the EU.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.