OSCE’s Minsk Group will hold a meeting the next week in Vienna, Austria, to discuss the sharp aggravation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, RIA Novosti reported April 2.
“Given the continuing aggravation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict’s contact line and the OSCE’s role in its resolution, the three co-chairs (Russia, the US and France) for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will meet in Vienna the next week as part of the ongoing regular consultations,” said the report.
The co-chairs are expected to inform the members of the Minsk Group, consisting of a number of OSCE member-states, about the situation and the co-chairs’ further steps to find a way to facilitate an early resolution of this protracted conflict, according to the report.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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