By  Trend

Serious negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are unlikely until the political situation in Armenia stabilizes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, RIA Novosti reported.

"The agreement that was reached [during the talks of the President of Azerbaijan and the Acting Prime Minister of Armenia in Dushanbe] was that contacts should be continued, that foreign ministers will meet, and that, of course, both Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We welcome such an agreement," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.

"We understand that until such turbulent internal political processes, which we are now observing, are completed, it is hardly possible to seriously consider certain ways out of this crisis and ensure a full-fledged settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he added.

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.