Azernews.Az

WASHINGTON D.C. – US President Barack Obama has called on the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to take "crucial" steps to move forward a settlement to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict during their Russian-brokered talks on Friday.

In a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Thursday, Obama stressed the importance of resolving the long-standing dispute based on the Helsinki Final Act principles of non-use-of force, territorial integrity of states and self-determination of nations.

During the phone conversation the two presidents also exchanged views on US-Azerbaijan relations and other issues, Aliyev’s press service said.

Obama spoke over phone with Armenian leader Serzh Sargsyan as well. He said he attached great importance to the forthcoming talks in the Volga city of Kazan and emphasized the significance of reaching progress at the meeting to be hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Sargsyan said both Armenia and the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh, an Azerbaijani region where separatists are running a self-proclaimed republic, are trying to achieve a peaceful and fair solution of the Karabakh conflict. He added that if Azerbaijan shows "a constructive approach" at the Kazan meeting, positive outcomes should be expected.

The two South Caucasus republics waged a war in the early 1990s. Armenia has been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory since then. A ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.