Minsk Group Urges Armenia, Azerbaijan To Settle Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

The United States, Russia, and France are urging Azerbaijan and Armenia to show the "political will needed to achieve a lasting and peaceful settlement” to their conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe made the call on March 22 to mark the 20th anniversary of the formal request to convene a conference on the conflict.

The three co-chairs of the Minsk Group urge the leaders of both sides "to prepare their populations for peace, not war."

Armenians beat the Azerbaijanis for control of the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Karabakh and adjoining areas in a war that ended in 1994.

The two countries have since failed to negotiate a settlement on the status of the enclave.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has created the Minsk Group to bring about a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

With AFP reporting