Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 7 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis received the Co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group from the United States, France and Russia and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office (CiO) on the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Andrzej Kasprzyk, and discussed with them the situation in the South Caucasus and in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Robert Bradtke of the United States, Bernard Fassier of France, and Igor Popov of Russia, were issued a mandate to spearhead the negotiations towards a settlement of this conflict.
Minister highlighted to his interlocutors the need to strengthen the role of the OSCE Secretariat, institutions and missions in the entire conflict resolution cycle. The participants of the meeting also discussed the impact that the results of the OSCE Summit of Heads of State or Government on 1-2 December in Astana may have on the resolution of protracted conflicts.
The participants also exchanged their ideas on the implementation of mutual confidence-building measures that could aid the Armenian and Azerbaijani societies, and discussed future cooperation between Lithuania's incoming OSCE chairmanship in 2011 in and the Minsk Group.
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.