Azernews.Az

The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia held talks in Paris on Monday in a bid to move forward the settlement of the long-simmering conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

The ministers, meeting with the participation of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group`s co-chairs, discussed the way forward on resolving the conflict, as well as further work on development of humanitarian contacts and the creation of a mechanism to investigate ceasefire violations on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops. Preservation of historical and cultural sites was on the agenda as well, according to a statement released by the OSCE.

The co-chairs -- Robert Bradtke of the United States, Igor Popov of Russia and Jacques Faure of France -- also reiterated deep concern over recent incidents along the front lines and stressed the need to respect the 1994 ceasefire agreement.

The foreign ministers -- Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan and Armenia`s Edward Nalbandyan -- expressed their determination to continue working with the co-chairs to reach a peaceful settlement, and their readiness to carry out confidence-building measures that could improve the atmosphere for negotiations, the statement says.

It said the meeting took place in a ``positive, constructive atmosphere``. As a next step, the co-chairs will visit the region in the coming weeks.

Early this month, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on a visit to Azerbaijan that the United States will offer a new approach for resolving the Karabakh conflict at the Paris meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers. She did not elaborate.

Shortly before the Karabakh ministerial, the separatist regime in Azerbaijan`s Nagorno Karabakh region occupied by Armenia accused Azerbaijani forces of violating the cease-fire about 1,000 times in the past week.

Earlier in June, nine soldiers from both sides were reported killed in a series of clashes along the Line of Contact. Azerbaijan`s Defense Ministry said the Armenian side was to blame for all the skirmishes.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev, commenting on the Paris meeting, said the OSCE mediators had decided to further intensify their mediating efforts.

The Nagorno Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia leveled territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The two countries fought a lengthy war that displaced about one million Azerbaijanis. Since the fragile ceasefire accord signed in 1994, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan`s internationally recognized territory, in defiance of international law. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.