Azerbaijan, Baku, June 30 /Trend, R.Darakhshan/
Armenia and Azerbaijan would both benefit from moving forward in the OSCE Minsk Group process, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip H. Gordon said Tuesday at special briefing answering questions about the forthcoming visit of State Secretary Hillary Clinton to Azerbaijan and Armenia.
"I think we've seen in some of the violence that has appeared in the region lately that we can't take stability for granted. And the Secretary will have a chance in both countries to underscore what the presidents said in Toronto the other day", Gordon said.
The presidents of Russia, the United States and France on June 26 during G 8 summit in Canada issued a joint statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which called on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to accelerate work on the Main principles of settlement of the conflict in order to begin drafting a Peace agreement.
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.