Azerbaijan, Baku, July 9 / Trend , E.Tariverdiyeva/
Armenia's mood concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement has been considerably improved, said Matthew Bryza, the U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, before his visit to Baku from Yerevan, where the mediators held talks on the Karabakh settlement yesterday.
"I think it will lead to some progress in the talks. I hope the U.S., French and Russian presidents will express their opinion on this issue at the G-8 summit," Bryza said.
Leaders of Russia, the United States and France may issue a statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, the Assistant to the Russian president, Arkadiy Dvorkovich, told journalists, RIA Novosti reported.
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 7 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 the peace negotiations.
Bryza just said that the Azerbaijani president's statement is fertile ground to develop a "framework agreement" to resolve the conflict. "We have designed a" framework agreement", some points of which do not satisfy Armenia, but there are also some points with which they agree," the co-chair said.
An advance, observed in the Karabakh settlement, indicates that the two presidents and two ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are very serious about their work, and both countries support a peaceful resolution to the conflict, believes Bryza.
The next negotiations between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents will take place in Moscow, he said.
"Constructive negotiations were held in Yerevan and we hope for such negotiations in Baku which will enable us to achieve further progress," Bernard Fassier, the French Co-Chair told journalists.
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