Armenia says latest Karabakh meeting helpful for defusing tensions

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan described the meetings with Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement as useful, citing them as factors that help defuse tensions in the long-running conflict, Reuters reported Monday, June 27.

“Meetings in trilateral format play a positive role,” Sargsyan said.

Sargsyan, Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on June 20 in Saint Petersburg to address the conflict. The Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents confirmed their commitment to the implementation of agreements reached at a Vienna-hosted meeting on May 16. To that end, they have agreed to increase the number of international observers in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone. Also, they expressed satisfaction that the ceasefire was now holding.

“The situation is now, of course, calmer that it was several months or even a year ago. The Azerbaijani side opens fire every now and then, using small caliber weapons, however,” he said.

The President reminded of the agreements reached at the Petersburg-hosted summit, including the commitment to the 1994-1995 ceasefire, establishment of mechanisms for investigating border incidents and the expansion of the OSCE team.

“Also, we agreed that tripartite meetings will further be held, while the negotiation process will continue under the OSCE auspices,” he added.