Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan on Thursday and discussed the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council meeting in Skopje, North Macedonia, which is attended by around 40 countries.

Lavrov confirmed Russia's readiness to promote the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement on the basis of the trilateral agreements signed by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020-2022, including the conclusion of a peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku, the ministry said in a statement.

Mirzoyan presented Armenia's position on the bilateral and regional agenda, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said separately.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement and also opened the door to normalization.

Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh after an "anti-terrorism operation" in September this year, after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.

Lavrov also spoke with Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting, according to media reports.

The ministers discussed the rotation of key OSCE posts, including the position of secretary-general, which is currently held by Helga Schmid, whose mandate expires on Sunday. (ILKHA)