"I understand it is hard to return to the negotiating table…But if we make just a tiny step forward in the political process… it would help prevent future flare-ups," Lavrov said in Yerevan, Armenia.
Violence in Azerbaijan’s breakaway region escalated early this month. Baku and Yerevan have accused each other of provoking hostilities. A ceasefire was achieved on April 5, following days of clashes that led to numerous casualties on both sides.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has been trying to mediate the conflict since 1992. It set up a Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France and the United States, to look for a way out of the crisis.
"We agree… that the troika of co-chairs should be the key coordinator in line with the mandate that was backed by the [conflicting] parties," Lavrov stressed.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988, when the region sought to secede from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. It proclaimed independence when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, triggering a war that lasted until a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994.
