Baku, Azerbaijan, June 10

By Matanat Nasibova - Trend:

Russia supports peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and welcomes continuation of the negotiation process, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov said on June 10 at a press conference held at Trend News Agency.

Answering the question of Trend related to specific proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on the next steps in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Ambassador noted that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs did not disclose details of their proposals on the settlement of the conflict.

“The recent joint statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs was related to the humanitarian sphere and maintaining security,” he said. “So far, it is known that the foreign ministers accepted the offer to meet soon. The exact date will be announced on the eve of the meeting.”

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 Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.