Moscow and Baku see chances for compromise in Karabakh settlement, says Lavrov

BAKU, December 3./TASS/. Russia and Azerbaijan see a possibility for finding a compromise to settle the Karabakh conflict, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a joint news conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov on Tuesday. "We have an understanding that possibilities exist to reach a compromise [in the Karabakh settlement]. This is not an easy matter. This conflict is one of the longest in the CIS space," the top Russian diplomat noted. "We are grateful to our Azerbaijani friends that the ideas that Russia advances [in a bilateral format and as co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group] are met with understanding," Lavrov stressed. "Today’s and yesterday’s contacts have made it possible for us to understand better how we must try to advance. I hope we will see the results," Lavrov went on to say. At a meeting with Lavrov on Monday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Baku saw no progress in the settlement around Nagorno Karabakh, but expected that Russia would continue playing an active role towards the settlement. Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The conflict between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of 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 after Azerbaijan lost control of them. 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. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been held since 1992 in the format of the so-called OSCE Minsk Group, comprising along with its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States - Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Turkey. Baku insists Nagorno-Karabakh be an autonomy within Azerbaijan. Read more