Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 28
Trend:
The meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Paris was constructive, useful and frank, the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said, Times.am news website reported Oct. 28.
"We thank the French President Francoise Hollande for organizing the presidential meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh issue in Paris," he said.
"This is the third such meeting in the last 3 months, and it shows that the co-chairing countries are decisive to continue their joint efforts on settlement."
Nalbandian said many issues regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's settlement were discussed during the meeting in Paris. He added that the discussed issues also included the confidence building measures, which were proposed by President Hollande in May and approved by the co-chairs.
On Oct. 27, Paris hosted a joint meeting of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, the Azerbaijani president's official website said.
Afterwards there was a meeting between the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.
Thereafter, the French President Francois Hollande, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs held a joint meeting.
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 four U.N. Security Council resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI