Intensive Phase of Talks on Karabakh Conflict May Start in Coming Days

An intensive phase of Russia-mediated negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region may begin in the coming days, Ali Hasanov, the national adviser to the Azerbaijani president, said Monday.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but is controlled by ethnic Armenians. It was at the heart of an Azeri-Armenian war in the late 1980s and early 1990s that ended in a Russia-mediated ceasefire in 1994.

"The initiative came from Russian President Vladimir Putin. He appealed to the presidents of both countries [Azerbaijan and Armenia], and, accordingly, the negotiation process is now being prepared. It is possible that an intensive phase of the negotiations will begin in the coming days," Xazar television channel quoted Hasanov as saying.