Karabakh meeting in Vienna was a step in right direction: U.S.

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Vienna-hosted summit on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement was a positive meeting and a step in the right direction, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said Tuesday, May 17.

President Serzh Sargsyan and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev participated in a Vienna-hosted meeting on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement on Monday.

At the meeting, the sides agreed to take steps to install mechanisms for monitoring and investigating ceasefire violations, increase the capacity of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office's team, also pledging to work towards a possible renewal of the negotiation process.

According to John Kirby, the joint statement, issued after the meeting, “makes it very clear what was discussed and the constructive attitude and demeanor of all the participants in this meeting.”

“Both presidents committed themselves to respect the ceasefire, to put in place important confidence-building measures, and to begin negotiations next month that can lead to a comprehensive settlement,” the spokesman said.

“They demonstrated what we believe to be political will to move beyond the status quo and to take steps that can benefit all the people in the region. And so as the Secretary made clear, the United States, for our part, will stand ready to assist them in that regard in whatever way they can.”

“And now everybody has to do the hard work of implementing the things that they committed to,” Kirby added.