Azerbaijan, Baku, June 9 / Trend A. Gasimova /
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met with Deputy Secretary of State Philip Gordon in Geneva May 7. Both sides exchanged their views on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria conflicts, as welll as the situation in Central Asia and Afghanistan, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
The situation in the Caucasus, progress and prospects in the Geneva talks, and the non-use of force were discussed during the meeting. The Russian side stressed the urgent need to apply the non-use of force, particularly through the adoption of unilateral declarations on Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia.
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 seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the United States - 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.