Nagorno-Karabakh conflict discussed in Moscow

By Sara Rajabova

The Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was mulled in Russia's capital city Moscow.

Russia's State Secretary - Deputy Foreign Minister, Grigory Karasin held a meeting with new co- French chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Pierre Andrieu on July 7, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

The sides discussed the topical issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and further coordination between the co-chair countries.

Pierre Andrieu has replaced Jacques Faure as a French co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Russia, France and the United States mediate the long-lasting talks over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which emerged in 1988 over Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Peace talks, mediated 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.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.