Putin Mediates Azerbaijan-Armenia Territorial Dispute
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a trilateral meeting with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts on Sunday, discussing the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh territory dispute between Azerbaijani and Armenian.
"We should display patience, wisdom and respect for each other to find a solution," Putin told Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in the southwest resort city of Sochi.
Noting that international formats exist for solving the territorial dispute, a legacy of the Soviet Union, Putin highlighted the Russia-Azerbaijan-Armenia platform as the three countries have deep historical ties.
Aliyev said he hoped the countries, through negotiations and by peaceful means, will soon find a solution in compliance with international law and with justice.
Sargsyan, for his part, said the conflict "should be settled on a compromise basis, using the principles proposed to us by the Minsk Group co-chairmen," adding that there was no military solution.
On Saturday, Putin held bilateral talks with Aliyev and Sargsyan respectively over a wide range of issues, including the recent conflict in the disputed territory, where 18 soldiers from both sides were killed in the past week.
It was not clear what set off the latest violence between the former Soviet republics, which accused each other of being the aggressor, said reports.
In the Soviet Union era, Nagorno-Karabakh had been an autonomous region of Azerbaijan with the majority of population being ethnic Armenians. Military conflicts started in 1988, and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum in 1991, boycotted by local Azeris, which approved the creation of an independent state.
After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, conflicts escalated in the region. An unofficial ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994.
The then Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, now the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, set up a 12-country Minsk Group in 1992 to negotiate the settlement of the conflict, but has not yet achieved substantial progress.
Sargsyan, for his part, said the conflict "should be settled on a compromise basis, using the principles proposed to us by the Minsk Group co-chairmen," adding that there was no military solution.
On Saturday, Putin held bilateral talks with Aliyev and Sargsyan respectively over a wide range of issues, including the recent conflict in the disputed territory, where 18 soldiers from both sides were killed in the past week.
It was not clear what set off the latest violence between the former Soviet republics, which accused each other of being the aggressor, said reports.
In the Soviet Union era, Nagorno-Karabakh had been an autonomous region of Azerbaijan with the majority of population being ethnic Armenians. Military conflicts started in 1988, and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum in 1991, boycotted by local Azeris, which approved the creation of an independent state.
After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, conflicts escalated in the region. An unofficial ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994.
"We should display patience, wisdom and respect for each other to find a solution," Putin told Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in the southwest resort city of Sochi.
Noting that international formats exist for solving the territorial dispute, a legacy of the Soviet Union, Putin highlighted the Russia-Azerbaijan-Armenia platform as the three countries have deep historical ties.
Aliyev said he hoped the countries, through negotiations and by peaceful means, will soon find a solution in compliance with international law and with justice.
Sargsyan, for his part, said the conflict "should be settled on a compromise basis, using the principles proposed to us by the Minsk Group co-chairmen," adding that there was no military solution.
On Saturday, Putin held bilateral talks with Aliyev and Sargsyan respectively over a wide range of issues, including the recent conflict in the disputed territory, where 18 soldiers from both sides were killed in the past week.
It was not clear what set off the latest violence between the former Soviet republics, which accused each other of being the aggressor, said reports.
In the Soviet Union era, Nagorno-Karabakh had been an autonomous region of Azerbaijan with the majority of population being ethnic Armenians. Military conflicts started in 1988, and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum in 1991, boycotted by local Azeris, which approved the creation of an independent state.
After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, conflicts escalated in the region. An unofficial ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994.
The then Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, now the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, set up a 12-country Minsk Group in 1992 to negotiate the settlement of the conflict, but has not yet achieved substantial progress.
Sargsyan, for his part, said the conflict "should be settled on a compromise basis, using the principles proposed to us by the Minsk Group co-chairmen," adding that there was no military solution.
On Saturday, Putin held bilateral talks with Aliyev and Sargsyan respectively over a wide range of issues, including the recent conflict in the disputed territory, where 18 soldiers from both sides were killed in the past week.
It was not clear what set off the latest violence between the former Soviet republics, which accused each other of being the aggressor, said reports.
In the Soviet Union era, Nagorno-Karabakh had been an autonomous region of Azerbaijan with the majority of population being ethnic Armenians. Military conflicts started in 1988, and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh held a referendum in 1991, boycotted by local Azeris, which approved the creation of an independent state.
After the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, conflicts escalated in the region. An unofficial ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994.
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