OSCE Minsk group co-chairs to visit South Caucasus for talks on Karabakh conflict
04.10.2019,
16:02
The US, French and Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will visit the South Caucasus for talks on a Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing yesterday.
YEREVAN, October 4. /ARKA/. The US, French and Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will visit the South Caucasus for talks on a Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing yesterday.
She said the visit has been agreed on with the Azerbaijani and Armenian Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
According to Zakharova, the timing is being specified and it will be announced additionally.
Zakharova was asked to comment on a statement by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavorv that the conflict negotiation process could be reinforced by the restoration of direct negotiations. She was asked to specify what Lavrov meant by saying direct negotiations - either direct talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan or the between the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani.
“I think that direct negotiations between the two states will be announced by representatives of these states,” Zakharova said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
In the early hours of April 2, 2016 Azerbaijan, in gross violation of the agreements launched a large-scale offensive along the entire Line of Contact between the armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, using heavy weaponry, artillery and combat aircraft. Only thanks to the decisive actions of the Defense Army, which gave a fitting rebuff, on April 5, Azerbaijan was forced to ask, as in 1994, through the mediation of the Russian Federation for the cessation of the hostilities. It has been generally maintained, despite the recurrent violations by the Azerbaijani side. -0-
She said the visit has been agreed on with the Azerbaijani and Armenian Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
According to Zakharova, the timing is being specified and it will be announced additionally.
Zakharova was asked to comment on a statement by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavorv that the conflict negotiation process could be reinforced by the restoration of direct negotiations. She was asked to specify what Lavrov meant by saying direct negotiations - either direct talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan or the between the leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani.
“I think that direct negotiations between the two states will be announced by representatives of these states,” Zakharova said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
In the early hours of April 2, 2016 Azerbaijan, in gross violation of the agreements launched a large-scale offensive along the entire Line of Contact between the armed forces of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan, using heavy weaponry, artillery and combat aircraft. Only thanks to the decisive actions of the Defense Army, which gave a fitting rebuff, on April 5, Azerbaijan was forced to ask, as in 1994, through the mediation of the Russian Federation for the cessation of the hostilities. It has been generally maintained, despite the recurrent violations by the Azerbaijani side. -0-
