Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to intensify talks

The pledge was made during discussions outside Moscow hosted by Russia's president that lasted less than three hours, according to a joint statement.

Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces since a six-year conflict that killed about 30,000 and displaced 1 million people before a truce was reached in 1994. Sporadic clashes have continued.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed the talks last month and they appear to reflect a renewed Kremlin effort to strengthen its influence in the energy-rich Caspian region.

Presidents Serge Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan agreed to instruct their foreign ministers "to speed up further moves in the negotiating process," the declaration said.

The foreign ministers will work with Russia, the U.S. and France, co-chairmen of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has tried unsuccessfully to negotiate a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

The U.S. also has promised recently to intensify its efforts to help solve the conflict.

Washington and Moscow have both pointed to Georgia's war with Russia in August, saying it has underlined the need to settle other regional conflicts through talks.

The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia met one-on-one before they were joined by Medvedev for the talks, which took place at Medvedev's residence, Meiendorf Castle.