Azernews.Az

Russia hopes for progress in the resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh in 2012-2013, a senior Russian official has said.

In an interview with Voice of Russia radio station, Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin also said it is "an extremely difficult, complicated topic that has its roots and its history".

"Efforts to resolve the Karabakh conflict, as before, should be in focus of the OSCE Minsk Group," he added.

"Both Armenia and Azerbaijan are our close partners in the CIS," Karasin said further. "We value our relationship with Yerevan and Baku, and we fairly and honestly do everything possible to bring closer the parties' positions on Nagorno-Karabakh."

Karasin stressed the efforts of the mediating Minsk Group, which is co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States, and OSCE representatives, who work hard, visit the region, meet with Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, and help them to find an acceptable formulation for future documents.

"We fully support this activity and hope that it will soon lead to concrete results," he added.

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.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from Nagorno Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions.