Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenian may meet this year
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan may meet by late 2013, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said at a joint press conference with OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara in Yerevan on July 15,Mediamax reported.
"At present, it seems that there is an agreement in principle and the realization of the necessity of such a meeting," he said. "We have to work for the meeting to take place until the end of the year."
He went on to say that the meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Vienna on July 12 discussed the opportunities of promoting the negotiation process and the schedule of meetings for the coming months.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.