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Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict

Azerbaijani top diplomat discusses situation in Karabakh with international mediators

On February 16, a meeting was held in a video format of Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov with co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group

BAKU, February 16. /TASS/. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov discussed with co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group the implementation of trilateral agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, the press service of Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry reported.

"On February 16, a meeting was held in a video format of Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov with co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov (Russia), Stephane Visconti (France), Andrew Schofer (the US) and personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk. The sides discussed the current situation in the region, including issues related to the implementation of the trilateral agreements of November 10 (November 9 Moscow time), 2020, and January, 11, 2021," the statement said.

According to the diplomatic agency, "the importance of regaining trust was emphasized in order to ensure a stable peace and security in the region, as well as co-existence in the conditions of tranquility."

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over 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.

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. The Russian leader said the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. Russian observation points are positioned along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin corridor, connecting Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

On January 11, after Putin, Aliyev and Pashinyan met in Moscow, a joint statement was signed, providing, among other things, for a creation of a trilateral working group at the level of deputy prime ministers on unblocking all economic and transport connections in the region.

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