Azerbaijan-Armenia territory talks: force may be used if no results

Azerbaijan's President has warned neighboring Armenia that his country is ready to resort to military force to resolve their territorial dispute if talks over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh fail.

The two countries' leaders, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, are meeting on Sunday in Munich.

"If no results are achieved at this meeting, the hopes we pin on the talks will be exhausted, and no other way will remain for us. We must be prepared for this," Aliyev said while visiting Azerbaijan’s Geranboi district on Friday, Interfax news agency reports.

He noted that the recent talks did not produce any results because the Armenian side demonstrated an unconstructive position, and said the current meeting in Munich is likely to be conclusive.

The region has a largely Armenian population and has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics since the late 1980s.

A war between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the area began in 1991, when Nagorno-Karabakh unilaterally declared independence. Around 30,000 people were killed.

Most of Nagorno-Karabakh has remained under joint Armenian and Nagorno-Karabakh military control, since the ceasefire in 1994.