RUSSIA TAKES MOSCOW DECLARATION AS "ROAD MAP" OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT: AMBASSADOR
Trend News Agency
Nov 20 2008
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku, 20 November / Тrend News corr. J.Babayeva/ Russia
takes the Moscow Declaration on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that
was signed among the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia as a
"road map" on further settlement of the conflict, Russian Ambassador
to Azerbaijan Vasiliy Istratov said to journalists on 20 November.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan and
Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev signed a declaration at the end of their
meeting in Mein Dorf castle near Moscow on 2 November. Presidents
of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan decided to make joint efforts to
normalize the situation in Caucasus and requested Foreign Ministers
to make efforts to solve the [Armenian-Azerbaijani] Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict. The declaration calls for the settlement of the conflict in
line with the principles and norms of international law and decisions
and documents adopted in this respect, which will create favourable
conditions for economic development and comprehensive cooperation in
the region.
"The views about the initiative to involve Nagorno-Karabakh in settling
of the conflict are mere views and statements. We must proceed from
what we have – the Moscow Declaration. This document does have a
signature of the Nagorno-Karabakh representatives. We must wait to
see the developments," he said.
The Moscow Declaration confirms Russia’s aspiration to settle the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by political means, Sergei Vinokurov, Chief
of the Russian Presidential Directorate for Interregional Relations
and Cultural Contacts with Foreign Countries, said to journalists in
Baku on 20 November.
The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began in
1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan
lost the Nagorno-Karabakh, except of Shusha and Khojali, in December
1991. In 1992-93, Armenian Armed Forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and
Nagorno-Karabakh’s seven surrounding regions. In 1994, Azerbaijan
and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active
hostilities ended. The countries keep on peace negotiating through
the OSCE Minsk Group.
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