Moreover, Russia’s top diplomat hoped both parties could find common ground on ways to overcome the Syrian crisis, even though Moscow and Ankara do not see eye to eye on a solution.
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Following the Baku talks Lavrov stated that there are reasons to believe that this time the sides are much closer to the prospect of success in the Karabakh conflict settlement than it had been until now. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijani-Russian relations do not depend on any external conjuncture. We discussed the bilateral relations in principle and identified further steps that can and should lead to progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. “A decision on the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran will be made in August”, Mammadyarov said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
While addressing the heads of state and government of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member and non-member states on Saturday, President Serzh Sarkisian chided Azerbaijan for attempting to “artificially” embed the Karabakh issue in NATO’s agenda and said that its non-constructive policies posed a threat to the peace process.
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Talking about progress in talks on Nagorno Karabakh, Lavrov especially noted his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that took place on July 11.
