Azeri official hails declaration with Armenia on Nagorno-Karabakh

Armenian President and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev signed a declaration at the end of their meeting in Moscow on Sunday, and called for a "peaceful resolution" to their dispute over the province of Nagorno-Karabakh on the basis of "binding international guarantees".

"There is no need to look for something new in signing of the document. The talks still continue and the document indicates their significance. Foundation is needed to be laid to shift to next stage," Khazar Ibrahim, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, told reporters.

"Oral statements are usually followed by the signing of a document. It was necessary to sign the document. Azerbaijan is determined to continue talks. The next stages of the talks are not known yet," Ibrahim said.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian territorial claims over Azerbaijan.

Since 1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts, displacing 10 percent of the Azeri population in the series of bloody clashes both between and within the two neighboring countries.

In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities ended. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are currently holding peaceful negotiations.

Nearly 30,000 were killed in the 1990s war over the enclave and soldiers on both sides continue to exchange sporadic fire, claiming lives.

BRYZA WELCOMES DECLARATION
Matthew Bryza, the American co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, also said the declaration is a very important step towards resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"It is constructive character and contains several important items - a solution to the conflict only through political means and the point that the country would solve the conflict, together with the OSCE Minsk Group," Bryza told Trend News.

The declaration would give the co-chairs the space and opportunities for further successful negotiations to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he said.

RUSSIA KEEN TO MAINTAIN INFLUENCE
The Kremlin says that the principle position of Russia in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is that the final choice regarding the status of disputed territories must be made by Armenians and Azerbaijanis.

Moscow also says it would support a solution that satisfies both sides and is ready to act as a settlement guarantor.

Analysts say Moscow is keen to maintain influence in Armenia, its main ally in the Caucasus, after the conflict between Russia and U.S.-allied Georgia in August raised tensions throughout the region.

The August war, which began when Georgia attacked its own breakaway enclave of South Ossetia, raised fears of similar violence in Nagorno-Karabakh.