Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend A.Ismaylova / The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, said on 11 June in Baku that the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group asked for time to define the contours for future talks regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
According to the Minister, Azerbaijan and Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are going to continue the negotiations on the conflict settlement. He voiced his hope that the Armenian side will also support the continuing peaceful process. A meeting took place between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia on 9 June in Saint-Petersburg within informal summit of the CIS State Heads.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries appeared in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia has occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani lands including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. Since 1992 to the present time, these territories have been under Armenian occupation. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a cease-fire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA) are holding peaceful negotiations.