Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to arrive in Azerbaijan soon to discuss the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Azerbaijani ambassador in Moscow has said.

Polad Bulbuloglu said the visit aims to continue holding talks after the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders’ meeting in late June brokered by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Lavrov is scheduled to arrive in Baku on Friday and will further head to the Armenian capital Yerevan, reports say. During his meetings in the two countries the minister will convey the Russian president’s message on the Karabakh dispute to the conflict parties.

Following Lavrov’s visit, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov is due to pay a visit to Moscow, Bulbuloglu said.

President Medvedev hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan in the Volga city of Kazan on June 24. Both the mediating countries and the conflict parties had urged to sign an agreement on a roadmap of the conflict settlement during the summit, but such a document was not signed, and the parties even traded accusations after the meeting.

Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war in the early 1990s. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory has been under the occupation of Armenian armed forces since a fragile ceasefire was signed in 1994. Mediators from Russia, the United States and France have led negotiations on Karabakh settlement but little progress has been made so far.