Dialogue between Karabakh parties a priority for settlement: Lavrov

PanARMENIAN.Net - Moscow will continue collective work aimed at reaching settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference in Vienna on Friday, December 8.

"It is necessary to identify the priorities in every single conflict. But it is also necessary to rely on certain common approaches. Among these approaches, first of all, is a direct dialogue between the sides of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict," he said.

Lavrov expressed regret that the dialogue has not yielded significant progress so far.

"There is a positive moment, however – this year's dialogue was at the level of presidents and foreign ministers,” he added.

The Russian foreign policy chief also said that Moscow will continue collective work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

"The collective approach contains the principles that the sides have accepted, but have yet to implement. This is a tough task, but we continue working,” Lavrov said.

On the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council Meeting in Vienna, the heads of delegation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries -- Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and French Permanent Representative Véronique Roger-Lacan -- reaffirmed their joint commitment to mediating a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict