Azerbaijan, Baku, 12 September / Тrend News corr. J.Babayeva/ The United States hopes that the OSCE Minsk Group will preserve the current format, U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Anne Derse said to journalists on 12 September.
"The United States will definitely keep on operating within the Minsk Group. The United States supports peace settlement of the conflict," she said.
According to Ambassador, Minsk Group's U.S. co-chair Matthew Bryza is expected to pay a visit to the country in near future.
"As the United States said before, it is a convenient time to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflict must be settled peacefully and in conformity with the principles of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," Derse said.
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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