By  Trend

The upcoming meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan as part of the negotiation process on the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, to be held in Moscow with the participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has a serious goal, a well-known Azerbaijani political analyst Arzu Nagiyev told Trend.

He said that namely as part of this meeting the parties will have to hold a detailed discussion of issues relating to the situation on the frontline, as well as humanitarian issues.

The political analyst reminded that during the Vienna meeting, the Armenian side again tried to talk about changing the format of the talks, and the issue was raised by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan later in Yerevan.

“I believe that the recent statements by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs regarding the unchanged format of the negotiation process, as well as similar statements by high-ranking officials of the EU are a serious message to the Armenian side,” Nagiyev said. “In turn, the position of Azerbaijan remains unchanged, we unilaterally declare that the conflict’s settlement is possible under the condition of restoration of the territorial integrity and inviolability of the Azerbaijani borders. This reasonable and fair position was repeatedly voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. At the same time, we propose to solve this issue through substantive negotiations, that is, step by step.”

As for the presence of the Russian side at the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, the political analyst called this a positive fact, noting the participation of the Russian foreign minister necessary.

At the same time, the expert reminded that the UN Security Council resolutions constitute the legal basis for resolving the conflict, and unequivocally confirm the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the international borders of Azerbaijan, and also require the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian occupying forces from the Azerbaijani territories.

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.