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Karabakh talks to start as situation in conflict zone stabilizes, says Armenian minister

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10

YEREVAN, December 7. /TASS/. Comprehensive talks on the settlement of the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh will begin after the situation in the conflict zone stabilizes, Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazyan said on Monday after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.

"Key top priority matters remain for comprehensive talks that will begin immediately after the situation in the conflict zone stabilizes. I share Sergey Lavrov’s opinion that there is cautious optimism in that context. I think we all must do our utmost to prevent any recurrence of the tragedy that happened in the recent two months," he said.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July.

On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. Under the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.