Baku, Azerbaijan, July 5
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Baku in mid-July, a diplomatic source told Trend July 5.
On June 30, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Lavrov will visit Baku the next week.
Mammadyarov said the issue on holding the next presidential meeting on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will depend on Lavrov’s visit.
Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan adopted a joint statement following the meeting in St. Petersburg June 20.
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents confirmed the agreements reached during the Vienna meeting held May 16 on stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone and creating an atmosphere to push forward the peace process.
For this purpose, the sides agreed to increase the number of international observers in the conflict zone.
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.