Azeri PM: Peace talks should consider our territorial unity

BAKU

Azerbaijan's Prime Minister Artur Rasizade on Friday said the issue of occupied Karabakh should be resolved with Armenia through peace talks that take into consideration his country's territorial unity.

Rasizade's remarks came during a meeting with his Russian counterpart Dmitriy Medvedev in the capital Baku, according to the Azeri Press Agency, APA.

The two leaders discussed politics, the economy, culture, tourism, agriculture, and strategic cooperation as well as the Karabakh issue, which last week triggered a deadly clash between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

According to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, the fighting over the past week saw 271 military personnel killed – 31 Azerbaijanis and 240 Armenians.

Karabakh was seized by ethnic Armenian separatists in the early 1990s before a peace deal in 1994. The enclave is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.

Thanking Russia for its "active intermediary activities" to help solve the Karabakh issue, Rasizade said the issue should be resolved through peace talks that take into consideration Azerbaijan's territorial unity.

The Azerbaijani prime minister said a solution to the Karabakh issue would contribute to the whole region.

Earlier in the day, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said both sides had agreed to reinstate a cease-fire so the remains of soldiers could be exchanged through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Red Cross.