Moscow, Russia, May 6
By Orkhan Yolchuyev - Trend:
Azerbaijan and Armenia are working out a possible meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry, Trend's special correspondent reported.
"A decision on the venue and the exact date of the meeting has not been made yet," Zakharova said.
"The matter rests in the nearest weeks, but it is too early to talk about the format," she stressed.
Earlier, in an interview with RIA Novosti news agency, Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said that a meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement is planned to be held with the participation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen in the nearest future.
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.