Azerbaijani, Armenian FMs mull Karabakh conflict settlement
By Trend
Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement in Hamburg on December 8 evening in the presence of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, said Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
Hajiyev added that the conflict settlement was discussed during a working dinner, which was held at the invitation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen.
Previously French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault proposed to hold a meeting there in the "3 + 2" format (Russia, France, the US, Azerbaijan, Armenia) on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Hamburg.
Although Baku gave its consent, the meeting in the "3 + 2" format was not held as a result of Armenia's destructive policy and its avoiding the negotiations.
“During the working dinner on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council, the sides exchanged the views on continuation of negotiations and the agenda issues in 2017,” Hajiyev said.
For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.
Two decades of talks mediated by the OSCE MG group have failed to produce a breakthrough, and the renewed hostilities, the worst since the ceasefire deal signed in 1994, were assessed as the result of inactivity of the international community.
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