OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will not take part in the meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Sochi, armenpress reported on Aug.7.
James Warlick (U.S.), Igor Popov (Russia), Pierre Andre (France) do not plan to attend the meeting of the presidents, the U.S. embassy in Armenia said.
The meeting of Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian presidents will be held from Aug.8 to Aug.9 in Sochi, Russia.
During the recent days, Azerbaijani positions have been constantly under attack, and 13 servicemen have been killed, several more were wounded. Armenian side suffered more losses while trying to hide this fact from the public.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding 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.
Edited by CN