The foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia discussed the Nagorny Karabakh settlement in Moscow on Saturday, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Azerbaijan's Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenia's Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian are on the visit to Moscow to hold talks with their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

"According to the reached agreements during the trilateral summit on October 27 in Astrakhan the actual issues over Nagorny Karabakh settlement were on the agenda of the talks," the statement said.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are strained over Nagorny Karabakh, a predominantly ethnic Armenian region.

The conflict first erupted in 1988, when the region claimed independence from Azerbaijan and sought support from Armenia. Karabakh has been de facto independent since a 1991-94 war that claimed more than 30,000 lives on both sides.

The OSCE Minsk Group, comprising the United States, Russia and France, was created in 1992 to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between ex-Soviet states.

MOSCOW, November 6 (RIA Novosti)