Baku, Azerbaijan, June 20
Trend:
In order to change the status quo, it is necessary to start de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories which have been under occupation for over 20 years, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev June 20.
He made the remarks during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.
“The topic of today’s main discussion is of course, the settlement of Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” said the president.
He expressed gratitude to President Putin for the initiative to hold the meeting, as well as Russia’s constructive role in the settlement process.
President Aliyev pointed out that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been protracted.
“As stated by Russia and other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the status quo is unacceptable,” said President Aliyev. “We fully support these statements, but in order to change the status quo, it is necessary to start de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories which have been under occupation for over 20 years.”
He noted that this issue will be discussed during the talks with Vladimir Putin.
“Hopefully, we will manage to give constructive dynamics to the negotiation process which in fact, hasn’t been conducted over the last two years,” said President Aliyev.