France not only initiator of Armenian, Azeri FMs meeting – Russian official

PanARMENIAN.Net - Planning the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers is not only France’s initiative, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to News.az.

Alexander Lukashevich commented on views that France has taken the initiative in Karabakh conflict settlement talks.

“All three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (U.S., France and Russia) are showing equal initiative in the Karabakh conflict settlement process. The meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers has been agreed with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The initiative to hold the meeting in France may have been put forward by them. The continuation of the negotiations is the result of the joint activity of the co-chairing countries,” he said.

Lukashevich said the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Foreign Ministers will be held at the end of this month.

“The meeting venue has not been determined yet. Depending on the results of this meeting, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will visit the region. Moscow supports dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia towards the resolution of Nagorno Karabakh conflict. It is important that the sides continue the process of negotiations”, he said.

Earlier, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman refused to comment on the report suggesting the oncoming meeting between Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers. “The Ministry will inform about Edward Nalbandian’s upcoming meetings in due time,” Tigran Balayan said.