Russia key for Karabakh: Baku

BAKU / YEREVAN

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov (R) and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton give a joint news conference in Baku in this June 6 photo. REUTERS Photo.

The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers were set to hold a meeting in Paris late yesterday to discuss the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karbakh conflict. 

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov left for Paris yesterday to meet his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian, their discussion is expected to address the Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement process. 

The meeting is also expected to be attended by the co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, which was set up after the 1994 Karabakh ceasefire to help bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict. 

Voicing new elements

The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for adherence to the three basic principles of conflict settlement: territorial integrity, people’s right to self-determination and the non-use of force, during her visit to the South Caucasus earlier this month. Meanwhile, new offers will be presented on the Karabakh peace process during the meeting, Armenian News.am website cited experts as saying. The website said that Clinton offered both Azerbaijan and Armenia the opportunity to voice new elements on the Karabakh peace process during her recent visit to the two neighboring countries. 

During the meeting in Paris, new offers will be presented on the Karabakh peace process, as was previously outlined, expert Alexander Markarov told Armenian News-NEWS.am. Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Elman Abdullayev confirmed to the Anatolia news agency that the two foreign ministers would discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh issue during the meeting.