Baku, Azerbaijan, June 15
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be discussed during the meeting of Russian and French foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov and Jean-Yves Le Drian in Moscow June 20, Spokeswoman of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing June 15.
“We are in touch with our French colleagues regarding this issue,” Zakharova said.
The essence of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement is finding a compromise between the conflict’s parties, which seem to be taking quite opposite stances, she added.
“The situation requires moving forward, and, therefore, contacts in various formats have recently intensified,” Zakharova noted.
Russia, as a mediator in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict’s settlement, is doing everything possible for a compromise to be reached, but not to the detriment of the peoples of the two countries, she 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.