By Gunay Hasanova

Azerbaijan has accepted a proposal put forward by France on a meeting of foreign ministers in the format of "3 + 2" in the framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg on December 9.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov made this statement during the meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault on November 17, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told Trend.

During the meeting ministers also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They noted the importance of continuing the negotiation process for the early achievement of a political settlement of the conflict, the ministry said.

Moreover, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was discussed during the telephone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.

The ministers discussed the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group, established to broker a settlement of the conflict.

While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of the due attention of the international community for years.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink has warned that the ongoing status quo on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is unstable.

“We really believe that the status quo is unstable,” said Brink. She noted that work is needed to strengthen confidence-building measures, the resumption of negotiations.

Baku has repeatedly stated that it supports the substantive negotiations on a phased settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in accordance with the spirit of the meeting of the Presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg.

In the contrary, the Armenian side violating the international rules and norms keeps the Azerbaijani lands under occupation, making every effort to obstacle the peace talks.

Despite a ceasefire agreement achieved between the sides, Armenia regularly shells the Azerbaijani positions in an effort to tense the situation. Despite the calls of Azerbaijani side, as well as the international community to follow the armistice, Armenia continues its destructive actions thereby showing its disrespect to the peace process.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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