Russia, Moscow, 1 August / Trend corr. R.Agayev / The meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs on regulation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict was strated in Moscow on 1 August.
The talks were held between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandyan and co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk Group from Russia, US and France.
Moscow talks between the foreign ministers will focus on the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict which was earlier proposed by the presidents of the two states in June in St Petersburg
The Moscow talks between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are the basis for the new work requested by the presidents of both states in St Petersburg," Bernard Fasier, French co-chairman of OSCE Minsk Group said to Trend earlier.
On 9 June, presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in St Petersburg within the 11th international economic forum. It was first meeting of the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev with the newly-elected President of Armenia Serj Sarkisyan.
The talks on the peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be held on the basis of Madrid proposals," Fasier said.
In November 2007, co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk Group presented basic principles of the peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The co-chairmen believe that the "Madrid proposals" are fair and balanced.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful negotiations.
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