Russian, Armenian FMs mull Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution
By Sara Rajabova
Russian and Armenian foreign ministers have discussed the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian visited Moscow on April 19 and held a working meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, Armenian media reported.
During the meeting, the parties discussed the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
They stressed the importance of settling the conflict only by peaceful means and with the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that caused a brutal war in the early 1990s. Long-standing efforts by U.S, Russian and French mediators have been largely fruitless so far.
As a result of the military aggression of Armenia, over 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed, 4,866 are reported missing and almost 100,000 were injured, and 50,000 were disabled.
The UN Security Council has passed four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.
Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. The negotiations have been largely fruitless so far.
Russian and Armenian foreign ministers also discussed the process of implementation of the agreements reached by the Armenian and Russian presidents and touched upon the large spectrum of issues on the agenda of relations. Nalbandian and Lavrov further exchanged views on international issues.