Lavrov hosting Armenian, Azerbaijani FMs over Karabakh

Lavrov hosting Armenian, Azerbaijani FMs over Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will host with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan in the Russian capital on Monday, March 15 to discuss the prospects for the Nagorno Karabakh settlement.

The closed-door consultations will take place in the wake of the talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held in Vienna on March 29, TASS reports.

The ministers will be joined by OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France) and Andrew Schofer (USA).

The conversation between Aliyev and Pashinyan in Austria’s capital was their fourth personal meeting but the first official negotiations. The two leaders earlier met on the sidelines of the CIS summits in Dushanbe and St. Petersburg (in September and December 2018) and at the World Economic Forum in Davos (on January 22).

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.

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