Azerbaijan calls for intensifying the work on the proposals on the negotiating table to change the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said in an interview with local media on December 25.
"The withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories could eliminate escalation, create favorable conditions for the settlement of the conflict through negotiations," he said. Mammadyarov expressed regret that Armenia has not used this opportunity for over 20 years. "The presidents and foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries have repeatedly stated the inadmissibility of the status quo and it must be changed," he said. "The cases of ceasefire violation along the contact line between the troops and the Azerbaijani- Armenian border have never really stopped," he said.
"The war has been going on for over 20 years." "The main reason of the current situation is the presence of the Armenian armed forces in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," he said. "It is impossible to ensure peace without withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from there."