BAKU. June 19 (Interfax) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan support negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov told reporters in Baku on Monday.
"The OSCE Minsk Group hopes for further political dialog between the conflict parties. We discussed this issue in Baku and in Yerevan. One can say following these discussions that the presidents of the two countries support further peace talks," Popov said.
The OSCE Minsk Group is seriously concerned about the increase of tensions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area, he said. "The OSCE Minsk Group mediators express deep concerns about the recent tensions on the frontline," Popov said.
The mediators discussed this issue at meetings with the Azerbaijani president and defense minister, he said. "We regret the serious ceasefire breaches on the frontline that occurred before the visit by the co-chairmen to the region. We need to do everything possible to prevent such things from occurring again. We are doing our best to reduce tensions," Popov said.
The situation on the conflict line in Karabakh aggravated last week. Military casualties on both sides of the conflict were reported.
A ceasefire between Armenia and the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other side was established in May 1994. The negotiation process is now going on with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group created in 1992 to look for ways of peacefully resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It comprises Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Turkey. The group is co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States.