Editor's Note: Details have been added after the second paragraph
Azerbaijan, Baku, April 21 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in a full staff will discuss resolving of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on Thursday, Russia's new co-chairman Igor Popov told media.
He said that afterwards, we will speak about the results of recent negotiations between the parties.
Russian and U.S co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Igor Popov and Robert Bradtke held talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku today. Former co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov introduced Popov to the Azerbaijani side at the meeting.
It is expected that French co-chairman Bernard Fassier will join his colleagues in Moscow on Thursday.
Co-Chairs noted that negotiations took place in Baku positively and constructively. "As always, I saw the desire of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We also attach great importance to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama ", Bradtke said.
Bradtke said that there are some points in update Madrid principles on which the parties must reach an agreement. The co-chairs will continue to work on it.
Popov said that he will try to maintain continuity and justify the confidence in his new office. "With the change of the co-chairman Russia's position on resolving the conflict will not change, because the president determines Russia's position but not the co-chairman," he said. Popov also said that he will visit Armenia soon.
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.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.