“I think that direct negotiations between the two states will be announced by representatives of these states,” she noted. “I can say that, in agreement with the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia [Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan], the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs plan to visit the region in order to hold talks and discuss the issue of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement. The timing of the visit is being specified for now, we will inform about it additionally.”
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.
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