AZERBAIJANI, ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTERS MEET WITH RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER

Trend News Agency
Aug 1 2008
Azerbaijan

Russia, Moscow, 1 August /Trend News corr. R.Agayev/ Azerbaijani and
Armenian Foreign Ministers discussed at Russian Foreign Ministry the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenia’s Edward
Nalbandyan met with the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Russian Federation Andrey Denisov in Moscow on 1 August.

They discussed the state and prospects of negotiations on
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry
reported.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was also discussed today at the meeting
between Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers.

The work over settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, suggested
by both countries’ presidents in St. Petersburg in June, will be
the basis for negotiations between Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign
Ministers in Moscow.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.