Russian FM, Minsk Group Co-Chairs Discuss Karabakh Settlement in Moscow

MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has received OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on Thursday in Moscow to discuss further steps in international efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to the Russian Foreign ministry’s statement, Lavrov and the OSCE MG co-chairs James Warlick of the US, Igor Popov of Russia and Pierre Andrieu of France, as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, including the implementation of the agreements reached at the summits on the conflict’s settlement in Vienna on May 16 and in St. Petersburg on June 20.

The sides also discussed the current situation on the line of contact around Karabakh between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.

Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev met in the wake of the worst fighting in the Karabakh conflict since 1994 which was stopped by Russia. At Vienna, the two men agreed to concrete safeguards against renewed truce violations proposed by the U.S., Russian and French mediators.

Aliyev and Sarkisian reported progress towards a peaceful settlement after their June talks in Saint Petersburg hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lavrov said afterwards that the conflicting parties are close to a breakthrough, while French President Francois Hollande offered to host another Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Paris in the following weeks.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs may meet with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the end of September in the sidelines of the UN summit, according to American Co-chair James Warlick.

“The Co-chairs continue keeping in touch with the sides, and we plan to meet with the foreign ministers at the end of this month in the sidelines of the UN summit”, Warlick said.