Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16
Trend:
The OSCE Minsk Group (MG) is keeping in touch with Azerbaijan and Armenia for holding the next meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, RIA Novosti quoted the OSCE Minsk Group’s US Co-chair James Warlick as saying.
The latest meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents was held June 20 in St. Petersburg in a trilateral format – with participation of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan had a meeting May 16 in Vienna.
Warlick said that during the meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg, presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia affirmed their readiness for the next meeting to ensure progress in the negotiation process.
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.