Azernews.Az

BAKU – A pullout of Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is being discussed in talks on settling the Nagorno (Upper) Karabakh conflict, CIS Executive Committee chairman Sergei Lebedev has said.

Baku and Yerevan are also in talks on creating corridors between Azerbaijan and its enclave of Nakhchivan and between the occupied Nagorno Karabakh region and Armenian territory, Lebedev told reporters.

"The Commonwealth of Independent States, and Russia in particular, are interested in a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We are advancing step by step toward bringing Azerbaijan and Armenia closer."

Armenia has had territorial claims against Azerbaijan, a South Caucasus neighbor, since the early 1990s. The country’s armed forces have been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, defying international law. The OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, is brokering peace talks.

Lebedev said the agreement on exchanging prisoners of war and the bodies of soldiers, signed by the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents with Russia’s mediation on October 27, "was essentially the first step in bringing their positions closer".

"These are minor steps, but we are doing our best to do more," Lebedev said.

Azerbaijan has also said the Astrakhan meeting inspires some hope.

"We hope that the process of bringing the [Azerbaijani and Armenian] positions closer will be continued in the future," commented Ali Hasanov, head of the Presidential Administration socio-political department. "[Baku hopes that] the Armenians will finally arrive at a constructive stance, and the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be resolved on the basis of the norms of international law and mutual concessions."

Hasanov also warned that if Baku senses that meetings to discuss Karabakh settlement cannot bring an effective result, it will pull out of peace talks.