Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 22 /Trend/
Russia has been consistently convincing the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of need to strengthen confidence-building measures, the Kremlin's press service said in a statement on Sunday.
"A joint statement by the presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, adopted in Sochi on March 5, 2011 is aimed at this objective. It contains the desire to resolve all disputes by peaceful means and to investigate possible incidents along the cease-fire line under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group", RIA Novosti quoted the statement as saying.
A trilateral meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian presidents - Ilham Aliyev, Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan is scheduled for Jan.23 in Sochi
"We are deeply concerned by the frequent violations of the cease-fire, casualties among troops and civilians, military rhetoric from both sides," read the statement.
According to the statement, Moscow hopes to quickly finalize the mechanisms for investigating incidents.
Resuming the dialogue between representatives of the intellectuals, academic and public circles of the two countries is proposed among the confidence-building measures.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday will also hold bilateral meetings with Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan.
"Agenda of Russian-Azerbaijani talks pays much attention to the problems related to the Caspian Sea, the coordination in regional and international issues. The election of Azerbaijan as a non-permanent member of UN Security Council for the 2012-13 period created additional opportunities for such cooperation", read the statement.
The talks between Medvedev and Sargsyan will focus on the most important aspects of the Armenian-Russian strategic partnership and alliance.
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 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.