Details added (first version posted on 14:38)
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 14
Trend:
China attaches great importance to the development of transportation corridors and is ready to expand the cooperation with Azerbaijan in this and other spheres, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
He made the remarks during the meeting with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov who is on a working visit to China.
Mammadyarov, for his part, said Azerbaijan supports the Silk Road Economic Belt project initiated by China, adding that Azerbaijan is an important part of East-West and North-South transportation corridors.
He noted that Azerbaijan's transit opportunities will expand after commissioning the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
Azerbaijan and China support the territorial integrity, sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of each other, Mammadyarov added.
Further, he briefed Wang Yi about the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and said that this conflict is the main threat to peace and stability in the region.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Edited by SI