Azerbaijan, Baku, September 3 / Trend E. Ostapenko /
The president of the southern Russian republic of Ingushetia,Yunus-Bek Yevkurov expressed hope for a peaceful and amicable settlement of all conflicts in the Caucasus.
"I am the head of the subject of the Russian Federation. The foreign policy is not my area. The Russian president and the Foreign Ministry deal with it. Of course, the conflicts in the Caucasus must be solved fraternally, in friendly way, without any third parties. I hope that problem will be solved between Azerbaijanis and Armenians, " Yevkurov said at a press conference in Baku.
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 negotiations to resolve the dispute.
Armenia has failed to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions stipulating the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.
Yevkurov arrived in Baku as part of the official delegation headed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
As to the Azerbaijani-Russian border, Yevkurov noted that the agreement to determine the border has been signed. There are no problems in this matter.
He said that any boundary envisages possible crossing by criminals and normal people. Yevkurov expressed regret about the last year incident when a gang, which consisted of citizens of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine, was revealed on the territory of Ingushetia.
Yevkurov said that many law-abiding Azerbaijani citizens work in Ingushetia.
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