Moscow says contacts with parties to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to continue

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated that contacts with the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will continue, regardless of the schedule of meetings of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers at the Munich Security Conference.

“Russia is currently coordinating a possible schedule of meetings in Munich, including meetings with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” she made the remarks at a briefing on February 9.

The spokeswoman noted that it will be announced later whether meetings will be held.

Earlier, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that Moscow is trying to organize a meeting of foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia, and Baku gave its consent to the meeting.

He added that Munich Security Conference will be held on February 17-19 and it is planned to hold a meeting with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs as part of the conference.

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. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.