Azerbaijan, Baku, 30 October / Trend corr. R.Novruzov / The United States supports Russia's initiative to hold trilateral meeting amongst presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, Sean McCormack, the press-secretary of the US Department of State, said on 30 October.
Meeting amongst leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will take place in Moscow on 2 November with participation of the Russian President, the Kremlin said.
"We have been working over this issue within a long enough time. The OSCE Minsk Group functions for a long time and we hope this initiative to be fruitful. We closely observe this matter," McCormack said.
Armenia has occupied 20% of Azerbaijanїs lands including Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding seven regions. The occupation began in 1988. Azerbaijan lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December 1991. In 1992-1993, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and Nagorno-Karabakhїs seven surrounding regions. 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, but fruitless negotiations.
Negotiations will take place amongst Foreign Ministers of these countries in Moscow before the meeting of the Presidents, Elmar Mammadyarov, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, told journalists on 30 October.
Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia intend to hold consultations with co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group on 1 November, Mammadyarov said. Results of the meeting will be reported to Presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, he said.
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