Azerbaijan, Baku, March 12 / Trend, M.Aliyev /
Baku hopes that Russia will make more efforts for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and will make them more efficient, Azerbaijani Presidential Administration Social and Political Department Chief Ali Hasanov said on Monday. Hasanov made this statement in response to the question what to expect in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution during the period of Vladimir Putin's presidency.
"I believe that if Russia will not be even more active in this matter and will not increase its efforts in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, neither the OSCE nor its Minsk Group, nor other international organizations can achieve serious progress in this sphere," Hasanov underscored.
He underlined that Russia has significant leverage over Armenia in all political, economic, social, military, geopolitical and security issues, and therefore, Russia may turn it to a constructive course exerting significant pressure on Armenia.
"We do not want more from Armenia - we want it to take a constructive position in the negotiations, withdraw occupation troops from Azerbaijani territories and create the conditions for the restoration of civil, national and ethnic rights of both Azerbaijanis and Armenians residing in Nagorno-Karabakh," Hasanov added.
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 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.