Baku, Azerbaijan, July 4
Trend:
Russia has only one position in Karabakh issue - to see the conflict resolved as soon as possible, Maria Zakharova, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Minister, said in Yerevan, 1in.am web site reported.
Russia is trying hard to make the resolution of the conflict move forward, Zakharova said.
She went on to add that Russia realizes that every day of prolonging the process of resolution of the conflict means threat to civilians.
When asked about the meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents, Zakharova noted that the conflicting sides should themselves provide this kind of information.
She also dismissed an opinion that Russia has initiated the St. Petersburg meeting to take over the process of resolution of the conflict, keeping other OSCE Minsk group co-chairs out.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.