There is a need to avoid public rhetoric in order to achieve tangible results in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at a briefing in Moscow June 28.

“Negotiations are underway on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Bilateral and multilateral meetings are held in this regard,” said the spokesperson.

Recalling the recent trilateral meeting of Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in St. Petersburg, Zakharova noted that the agreements reached between the sides are reflected in the joint statement signed on the outcome of the meeting.

“Moscow considers it necessary to avoid public rhetoric to achieve tangible results in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We don’t want to hide any achievement, what’s important is to find a solution to the conflict. In case of any concrete progress in the negotiations process, the public will be informed about it,” she added.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.

More about: