Azernews.Az

BAKU – The prospects of a resolution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh now seem at their lowest point in years, despite increased international interest, including the personal involvement of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the International Crisis Group has said.

ICG said in its annual report that the failure to secure an agreement on Basic Principles of the conflict settlement before the December OSCE summit in Astana – the first in a decade – was "deeply troubling". It added that the political deadlock was accompanied by an increase in violence on the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in the summer and fall of 2010.

ICG’s report also outlined the think-tank’s priorities for 2011, saying it will focus this year on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia and the Cyprus dispute.

ICG will draw up three reports on the Karabakh issue this year. The first one will focus on "worrying developments on the ground", including the rise in violent incidents and violations of the ceasefire. Crisis Group plans to follow up with a second report that will propose ways to decrease tensions and, through incremental steps, move the negotiations process forward. The other report will assess the political, economic and social conditions of some 800,000 Azerbaijanis diplaced from the region in the late 1980s and 1990s, ICG said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno Karabakh. Sporadic clashes on the frontline continue. Peace talks have been fruitless so far.

Russia co-chairs the Minsk Group brokering the peace process, along with the United States and France.