Azerbaijani, Russian, Armenian religious leaders to meet in Moscow

The Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian religious leaders will hold a trilateral meeting in Moscow on September 8, said Alexander Volkov, the spokesman of the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia 4.

The Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian religious leaders will hold a trilateral meeting in Moscow on September 8, said Alexander Volkov, the spokesman of the Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia 4.

He told reporters that the religious leaders of the three countries will discuss ways of solving the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The last meeting of two spiritual leaders was held in Moscow in November 2016, where they expressed intention to continue such meetings through intermediaries.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.

The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia are expected to meet in New York this fall.

Moreover, the OSCE Minsk Groups, established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is preparing for a meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents.