The conflict between the two former Soviet republics over Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian population, first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia.
A statement by the G8 ministers following talks Thursday in Moscow stressed the need to draft the main principles to solve the conflict peacefully so that agreement could be reached in 2006, and urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to display political will and reach an agreement on the issue this year, while preparing their nations for peace and not for war.
Over 30,000 people were reported dead on both sides between 1988 and 1994, and over 100 others died after a ceasefire was concluded in 1994, leaving Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenian hands, but tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have persisted.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the world's largest regional security body, carried out monitoring of a section of the border between the countries that has been at the center of recent accusations from both sides of ceasefire violations.
