Azerbaijan , Baku, June 4 / Trend E.Tariverdiyeva /
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassadors Bernard Fassier of France, Robert Bradtke of the United States, and Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, will visit the region next week, a senior diplomatic source told Trend. The source stressed that the exact date of the visit is being defined.
The source said the Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign ministers are also expected to hold a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister's participation following the co-chairs' visit to the region. The meeting will be held prior to the Kazan meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
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 four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.