Details added (first version posted on 15:01)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 10
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
Russia intends to continue its mediatory mission regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, together with other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the basis of coordinated approaches, said Russian Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a briefing Mar. 10.
Russia considers it necessary to resolve the conflict on the basis of the approaches set forth in the statements of the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, Zakharova said.
In particular, these statements call on the sides of the conflict to resolve disputable issues without the use of force and on the basis of the territorial integrity of states and the right of peoples to self-determination, she added.
The agreements reached through Russia’s mediation are important points of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, Zakharova said.
She recalled that during the April escalation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Moscow played a decisive role in bringing the sides of the conflict back to the ceasefire regime.
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.