The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia may meet this month to negotiate a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said US diplomat James Warlick.

“We hope that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet this month,” Warlick wrote on Twitter. “Only they can address the most difficult issues of peace.”

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, including Warlick, in Paris yesterday. 

Armenians captured nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, in a war after the Soviet Union’s breakup in 1991.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a ceasefire in 1994 but no peace agreement has been signed.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly warned that it reserves the right to use military force to regain control of the territory should peace efforts fail.

ANN.Az