Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend E.Huseynov / The Russian Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Yuri Merzlyakov, informed Trend that the co-chairs of the Minsk Group prepare the next meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
He remembered that the recent meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenia, Vardan Oskanyan was organized on 18-19 April. "Presently we are seeking possibilities to organize the next meeting of the Foreign Ministers," Merzlyakov said, adding that it is very difficult to bring them together. He did not exclude that the next meeting of the Foreign Ministers may take place in May or later. The Russian diplomat said that the co-chairs plan to make a visit to Madrid on 10 May to meet with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Spanish Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos.Thereafter, the co-chairs will make a visit to the conflict region at the end of May.
The conflict between the two countries of South Caucasus began in 1988 due to then territorial claims of Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven Districts of the country surrounding it. Since 1992 to the present time, these territories have been under the occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The OSCE Minsk Group holds peaceful negotiations.