OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Igor Popov and OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakh Secretary of State and Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev discussed the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict today, KazTAG reported.
"The special representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and I met with the Kazakh FM and discussed issues concerning the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Popov told journalists after the meeting.
"We told him about the meetings that have been held in the past few days in Baku and Yerevan, our meetings with presidents Ilham Aliyev and (Serzh) Sargsyan, and works on the preparation of basic principles," he added.
Popov also noted that the OSCE Minsk Group's representatives voiced hope that the OSCE summit in Astana will become "an important area for further dialogue between Armenia and Azerbaijan."
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 four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions.