Trend, Azerbaijan
July 17 2009

Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia held talks in Moscow on the
peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh
Sargsyan held talks in Moscow on the peaceful settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The follow-up information for the press was
not disclosed.

July 18, there is expected a tripartite meeting of Heads of Azerbaijan
and Armenia with the President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev.

Over the last year this is sixth meeting in a format of Aliyev –
Sargsian. Previous talks between Armenian and Azererbaijan Presidents
Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan took place June 4 in
St. Petersburg. The summit was the fifth between the heads of two
countries on the Karabakh settlement. Previous meeting was held in
Prague on May 7. The first talks were held June of last year in
St. Petersburg, the second meeting was held in late November 2008 in
Moscow, the third – in Zurich on January 28 this year.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The
co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are
currently holding the peace negotiations.