Baku, Azerbaijan, May 15
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the US) expect to meet with the new Armenian leadership in June, reads a press statement by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The co-chairs, together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on May 15, according to the press statement.
The minister and the co-chairs discussed modalities for moving the peace process forward. The personal representative informed the participants regarding the relatively stable situation on the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.
Mammadyarov expressed Azerbaijan's readiness to resume active negotiations as soon as possible.
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.
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