BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.1
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Specific parameters were formulated to be agreed upon to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov said.
Lavrov made the remark during his speech before the students of Moscow State Foreign Relations Institute, Trend reports on September 1.
"Russia participates in the international efforts to create conditions for the settlement of various conflicts, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, for the consideration of which the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by Russia, the US, and France, respectively, was set up,” the minister said. “The group also consists of several other countries, including Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Turkey, although by the decision of this group, the co-chairs - Russia, the USA, and France were empowered to work daily to create the necessary atmosphere in which the parties themselves could find generally acceptable agreements.”
“We don’t write scenarios for solving the problem, but we create conditions so that the parties could agree among themselves,” he noted. “Over the past 18 years, the first such documents have been developed between the parties. Big work has been done. The documents formulated principles that reflect both the principles of the UN Charter and the principles of the Helsinki Final Act. They also formulated specific parameters to be agreed for this settlement to take place.”
Lavrov noted that recently several incidents took place which has seriously increased tensions and didn’t contribute to a positive role for the efforts of the co-chairs to be successful in creating the proper atmosphere.
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.