Preparations for Armenia-Azerbaijan presidential meeting underway

PanARMENIAN.Net - The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are organizing a meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, a statement released on Saturday, September 23 revealed.

The co-chairs (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met separately and then jointly with Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers - Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov - on September 22-23 on the margins of the UN General Assembly. The co-chairs were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The main aim of the consultations was to discuss the current situation in the conflict zone, to explore ways to reinvigorate the negotiation process, and to prepare for the upcoming summit between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"The co-chairs expect the summit meeting to contribute to enhancing confidence and political will among the parties to find solutions to the remaining key settlement issues. The ministers expressed their commitment to work with the co-chairs to prepare for a successful summit in the near future," the OSCE statement said.

"The co-chairs also met with OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger and UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman to discuss the situation on the ground as well as the latest developments in the peace process and to inform them of preparations for the next high-level meetings."

The co-chairs intend to travel to the region at the beginning of October.