Deputy Minister's remarks added (the first version was posted at 11:49)
Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.24 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /
Azerbaijan does not expect anything new from the upcoming visit of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov told journalists on Thursday.
"Armenia, as before, takes advantage of the situation for its own selfish ends. Rather than responding to Azerbaijan's constructive proposals, Armenia chooses a different way, uses occupied Azerbaijani territories for its selfish ends and, thus, shows no interest in moving the process forward," Azimov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent 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 the 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.
He said though the situation clarified after Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents' Kazan meeting, which was held with the mediation of the Russian president, but stagnation ensued. On the other hand, French President's visit to Yerevan and Baku also yielded no results, Azimov said.
Azimov said that Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will attend a conference of the Council of OSCE Foreign Ministers in Vilnius in early December.
He said Mammadyarov is not yet scheduled to meet with his Armenian counterpart in Vilnius.
Azerbaijan is ready to continue negotiations, he added.