St. Petersburg meeting of Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to take place in usual format: U.S. co-chairman

"Firstly the Presidents of the two countries will have a face-to-face meeting and later the co-chairmen and the foreign ministers will join them," he said. The leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia plan to meet on June 4 in St. Petersburg within the economic forum and discuss ways of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The co-chairman said that possibly President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev will hold a meeting, "that depends on President Medvedev."

Revival was noticed in the negotiation process over the recent period. Co-chairmen noted a significant breakthrough in the talks, saying that "the foundation of the house was put." The meeting in Prague on May 7 was the fourth between the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev and Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The previous meeting was held in Zurich on January 28 this year. The first meeting was held in June last year in St. Petersburg, the second - in the end of November last year in Moscow.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.

/Trend News/