Azerbaijan agrees to the OSCE Minsk Group proposal for the “return of the Kalbajar and Lachin regions in the course of five years,” Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated at a press conference on July 15.

Referring to the deployment of peacekeeping forces in the Karabakh conflict zone, the minister noted that according to the decision made at the OSCE summit in Budapest, the peacekeepers must not belong to OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair states or countries of the region.

As NEWS.am reported previously, on July 9, Mammadyarov said the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers will discuss “the return of Lachin and Kalbajar regions” during the meeting on the sidelines of the OSCE informal ministerial in Almaty.

On July 25, 2009 the former U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza stated after the signing of a peaceful agreement, 5 regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, namely, Fizuli, Aghdam, Jebrail and Ghubatlu will be returned to Azerbaijan immediately, whereas Lachin and Kalbajar regions- within 5 years.