Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Tuesday he was hoping that his meeting with Armenian counterpart, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, would help open a new phase of substantive talks on Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd December, 2019) Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said Tuesday he was hoping that his meeting with Armenian counterpart, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, would help open a new phase of substantive talks on Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement.
"The expectation is that we must make every effort to move forward. Because otherwise the situation, the status quo that has developed, does not suit anybody. First of all, it is necessary that the armed forces return to the barracks because in this way conditions can be created for creating an atmosphere of trust. I hope that tomorrow we will open the new phase of substantive negotiations," the minister told a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Mammadyarov and Mnatsakanyan are expected to meet on the sidelines of a ministerial council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Bratislava.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a region with mostly Armenian population proclaimed its independence from Azerbaijan in 1991, which led to a military conflict. Despite a 1994 ceasefire, the situation in the region has remained tense.
