Azerbaijan says talks on resolving Karabakh conflict may begin soon

BAKU, April 18. /TASS/. Talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia on resolving the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh may start in the near future, an aide to Azerbaijan’s president for public and political affairs, Ali Gasanov said on Monday. The initiative on the talks comes from Russia, he said, adding that the preparations for the negotiations are underway. "Possibly, an intensive stage of talks will begin in the coming days," Gasanov was quoted by the Khazar TV channel as saying. On April 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan. The Russian leader said Moscow would make all the necessary intermediary steps to normalize the situation in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Kremlin press service said. The president also called on both sides to cease the fire. The situation along the contact line of conflicting sides in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan, deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2 when fierce clashes began. The parties to the conflict accused each other of violating the truce. At a meeting of chiefs of General Staff of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow an agreement was reached on the ceasefire from noon local time (0800GMT) on April 5. Since then, the sides have reported ceasefire violations along the contact line. Read more