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Armenia, Azerbaijan Have Good Will to Resolve Nagorno-Karabakh Issue - Putin

© RIA Novosti . Sergei Guneyev / Go to the mediabankRussia’s President Vladimir Putin said that both the Azeri people and the Armenian people have good will to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that both the Azeri people and the Armenian people have good will to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. - Sputnik International
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Armenia and Azerbaijan have a good will to peacefully resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Sunday at the meeting with the countries' presidents.

BUCHAROV RUCHEY (SOCHI), August 10 (RIA Novosti) - Armenia and Azerbaijan have a good will to peacefully resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Sunday at the meeting with the countries' presidents.

"I state with pleasure that the president of Azerbaijan has pointed out the need to solve the problem peacefully, and you [Armenian president] have said the same just now. This is really of the outmost importance, because there is no greater tragedy than the death of people," Putin said while meeting with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan.

"Any situation can be resolved if there is good will. It seems to me, both the Azeri people and the Armenian people have such good will," Putin said.

The Russian President also said that Moscow respected the international format of resolving the conflict in the region and would continue its participation through close bilateral relations with both nations.

"Without doubt, we respect all these international formats and will continue to work with our colleagues. But we also take into account our close relations and deep history allowing us to honestly exchange opinions on where we are and what needs to be done to move forward in resolving the problems that we have inherited from the past," Putin said.

According to the Defense Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, recent attacks in the past days have claimed the lives of 25 Azeri and five Armenian soldiers. The Azeri side insists it has lost 12 servicemen.

The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh has not abated since 1988 when the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region with predominantly ethnic Armenian population announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.

Following armed actions in 1992-1994 that left some 30,000 people dead Azerbaijan lost control over Karabakh and the adjacent territories. Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence but does not participate in negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan which are still technically at war after a conflict over the disputed region.

A ceasefire was agreed on in 1994, but a permanent peace deal has still not been signed. Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group and its co-chairs Russia, France and the United States have been negotiating a lasting and peaceful settlement of the conflict.

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