Armenian, Azerbaijani presidents finally meet on KarabakhOctober 16, 2017 - 17:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev held a summit on Monday, October 16 in Geneva, Switzerland, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs said in a statement. Foreign Ministers Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov also attended the meeting, which was organized under the auspices of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of Russia, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States). The personal representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also participated in the summit. The meeting took place in a constructive atmosphere. The presidents agreed to take measures to intensify the negotiation process and to take additional steps to reduce tensions on the line of contact. The co-chairs expressed their satisfaction with these direct talks, which took place after a long interval. They remain ready to work with the sides on mediating a peacefully negotiated settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. As a next step, the co-chairs will organize working sessions with the ministers in the near future. Top stories The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. London’s Armenian community has been left feeling “under attack” after the city’s Genocide monument was vandalised. The United States believes there should be an international mission to provide transparency. Partner news | Turkey extends military presence in Azerbaijan The Turkish parliament has adopted a bill submitted by Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extend the mandate of Turkish troops. Russia to begin assessing migrant workers' speaking skills Rosobrnadzor is planning to change the Russian language exam for migrant workers and include an assessment of speaking skills Armenian, Saudi Foreign Minister meet in Riyadh The two commended the positive dynamics of the development of political dialogue between Armenia and Saudi Arabia Pashinyan: Azerbaijan’s proximity shouldn’t worry border residents At the same time, he said that he “does not guarantee [the security of villagers] one hundred percent”. |