Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – A tripartite format of negotiations on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh has allowed bringing the positions of the two countries closer, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s representative has said.

Alexander Lukashevich said Moscow was making every effort to achieve progress in the peace process with support from the other co-chairs of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group, referring to the United States and France.

"Three meetings were held in a trilateral format between the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in 2010. These contacts allowed to bring the positions of the parties closer and strengthen confidence-building measures," he said.

Lukashevich said that during talks in Astrakhan in late October, Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan expressed their firm readiness to continue working on the basic principles of the conflict settlement.

At the end of the talks between the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia in Astrakhan, Baku and Yerevan signed a declaration that provides for the exchange of prisoners of war.

"We think that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will be able to analyze the work carried out between the summits and to determine further specific steps aimed at finding a mutually acceptable solution to the Nagorno Karabakh problem at the upcoming meeting in Sochi," he said.

The Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders will meet in the Russian Black Sea city of Sochi on Saturday, March 5.

The Karabakh conflict emerged during the last few years of the Soviet Union. 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, has been under Armenian occupation since the two South Caucasus republics signed a precarious cease-fire in 1994 following a lengthy war. Up to a million Azerbaijanis were displaced in the war that claimed some 30,000 lives. Over a decade of efforts by international mediators have been largely fruitless so far.