Baku, Azerbaijan, August 1
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
The U.S. very concerned about escalation of situation on Azerbaijani-Armenian contact line, Charge d'Affaires in Azerbaijan Dereck Hogan told Trend on Friday.
"It is a situation of a great concern and of course we regret the loss of lives on both sides. That is why it is so important that both sides together with co-chairs work quickly to address the fundamental concerns", Hogan said.
Around eight servicemen of Azerbaijani armed forces have been killed during the fighting over the last three days, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on August 1.
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 two countries 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.