Baku, Azerbaijan, May 9
Trend:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during a telephone conversation, Russian Foreign Ministry said on May 9.
The sides discussed current international issues, "including the problems of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the possible steps of the OSCE Minsk Group at this stage," the report said.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.