Azerbaijan, Baku, July 5 /Trend, V.Zhavoronkova/
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement process is continuing, the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza said during celebration of U.S. Independence Day.
"Over the past few days, I contacted with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Azerbaijani officials, discussing what will follow the meeting in Kazan. The process continues," Bryza said on Tuesday.
He said he would not say that the Kazan meeting was unsuccessful, because there have been some steps forward, which were mentioned by the conflicting sides, as well as co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia discussed in Kazan the basic principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The meeting, which was the ninth in the last three years, ended without reaching an agreement on the basic principles of settlement. In a joint statement, the sides mentioned the progress towards this goal.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.