Baku, Azerbaijan, June 20
Trend:
Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan have expressed commitment to the normalization of the situation on the line of contact and agreed to increase the number of OSCE observers, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.
“The sides outlined concrete steps towards intensifying the negotiation process and agreed on a trilateral declaration which confirms their commitment to the normalization of the situation on the line of contact and their consent to increase the OSCE observers working in the zone of conflict,” said Lavrov, RIA Novosti reported.
The sides also expressed commitment to creating conditions for ensuring sustainable progress in the talks on political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he added.
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.