YEREVAN (Sputnik) – Foreign Minister of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh republic Karen Mirzoyan discussed on Friday with EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Herbert Salber peaceful settlement of the conflict in the split region, the republic’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The situation in the peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict was also touched upon. In this context the sides noted the importance of the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen aimed at creating conditions for the resumption of negotiations, and, in particular, stressed the need to implement the agreements reached in Vienna and St. Petersburg," the statement said.
During the negotiations, Mirzoyan expressed Nagorno-Karabakh’s readiness to boost cooperation with the European Union in all spheres including strengthening of democratic institutions.
Azerbaijan's Armenian-dominated breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh proclaimed its independence in 1991. After the military conflict ended in 1994, Azerbaijan lost control over the region. Violence erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh on April 2, 2016 and led to multiple casualties. The parties to the conflict signed a Russian-brokered ceasefire on April 5, but mutual accusations have not stopped so far.
On May 16, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev met in Vienna to discuss the conflict. The sides reiterated there could be no military solution to the conflict and reaffirmed their commitment to 1994 and 1995 peace agreements. The presidents also agreed to finalize the OSCE investigative mechanism as soon as possible to reduce the risk of further violence.
On June 20, the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met in St. Petersburg where they reaffirmed their commitment to achieve steady progress in political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and agreed to increase the number of OSCE monitors working in the conflict zone.
