Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs may meet before end of 2017

By  Trend

Considering the results of the Geneva summit on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs plan to organize a meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandyan by the end of the year, Spokeswoman of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on November 9.

“As for contacts in different formats, they are not excluded, either, and are under consideration,” she added.

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.