Armenia, Azerbaijan Agree to Hold Peace Talks, Russian Says

ISTANBUL, Turkey —  Azerbaijan and Armenia have accepted an invitation to hold peace talks in Moscow soon on the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev said Monday.

Kozyrev brought together Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Hussein Sadikhov and Armenia’s acting foreign minister, Armand Navassardyan, during a meeting to set up a Black Sea economic cooperation pact between Turkey and eight former Communist states.

“I invited the two ministers to come. As I understand, both of them accepted,” he told reporters.

Kozyrev said Armenia and Azerbaijan have different views on the causes and nature of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-dominated enclave administered by Azerbaijan.

“But what is encouraging to me, and what prompted my invitation, is that both of them are speaking of their desire to reach a compromise on this matter,” he said.

“It’s obvious also that the opinion of the population there should be taken into account somehow. If they cooperate between themselves to facilitate an internal solution, we are eager to assist in any possible way.”

Kozyrev said the Moscow talks will be held “probably next week.”

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region populated mostly by Armenians but located entirely inside Azerbaijan. It is claimed by both countries, and the four-year battle for control has been one of the bloodiest in the former Soviet Union, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

On Monday, Azerbaijani soldiers reportedly made their third attempt in four days to seize an Armenian village in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Tass news agency said that as many as six armored personnel carriers and an unspecified number of Azerbaijani troops were involved in Monday’s assault on the village of Khramort.

No casualty reports were immediately available.