Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to work for Caucasus stability

Moscow, Nov 2 (RIA Novosti) The leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed Sunday to work together for improving the situation in the Caucasus and instructed their foreign ministers to intensify efforts to settle the Nagorny Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss a settlement to the conflict in light of the recent war in Georgia.

Following the meeting, the three presidents signed a declaration on the dispute of Nagorny Karabakh - a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population, declared its independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia in 1988 and has been a source of conflict ever since.

The declaration calls for a peaceful settlement of the conflict on the basis of international law and decisions and documents adopted within this framework to create favorable conditions for economic development and comprehensive cooperation in the region.

Nagorny Karabakh saw bloody conflicts between ethnic Armenians and Azerbaijanis when the entity declared itself a republic and Azerbaijan lost control over the region.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994. The so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been acting as a moderator in the conflict, and the three presidents on Sunday agreed a close cooperation with the Minsk Group.