Armenia, Azerbaijan Leaders Begin Karabakh Talks

RFE/RL reports that the motorcades of both presidents have arrived at the Rambouillet chateau, outside Paris, and the talks with OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs have started.

RFE/RL's correspondent reports that it is not clear whether the two presidents are meeting face-to-face, or separately with the OSCE envoys. Talks are set to continue today and tomorrow.

French, U.S., and Russian mediators from the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were also asked to take part in the negotiations.

European and U.S. diplomats have suggested that the talks represent one of the best chances in years to move toward a peaceful resolution of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mainly ethnic Armenian populated territory in Azerbaijan.

Clashes over the territory began in 1988, when Armenia and Azerbaijan were still part of the Soviet Union. The conflict claimed some 30,000 lives and created nearly 1 million refugees before a 1994 ceasefire ended the fighting.