Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 9
Trend:
Finland supports peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group, said Peter Stenlund, secretary of state at Finland’s Foreign Ministry, during his meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.
The meeting was held as part of the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend Dec. 9.
The Azerbaijani foreign minister informed Stenlund about the negotiation process on the conflict’s settlement.
Mammadyarov noted that the conflict must be resolved in accordance with the norms and principles of international law within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders.
“Following the substantive high-level discussions in Vienna and St. Petersburg, Armenia is trying to disrupt the negotiations aimed to resolve the conflict by resorting to various provocations,” 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.