Karabakh settlement to be in focus of Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan meeting in Baku - Russian diplomat

ST. PETERSBURG, April 5. /TASS/. Settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis will be in focus of a Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan meeting due to be held in Baku on April 7, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. "You know, it was announced earlier that a trilateral Russia-Iran-Azerbaijan meeting is planned. This meeting will take place but bearing in mind the latest development it acquires a somewhat different topicality. Naturally, the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh will be in focus," she told a Russian media forum in St. Petersburg. The situation along the line of engagement of the conflicting parties in Nagorno-Karabakh deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2. Following fierce armed clashes at the contact line, the parties to the conflict accused each other of violating truce. The conflict between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up but was mainly populated by Armenians, broke out in the late 1980s. In 1991-1994, the confrontation spilled over into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and some adjacent territories. Thousands left their homes on both sides in a conflict that killed 30,000. A truce was called between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other in May 1994. Read more