Armenian, Azerbaijani leaders agree to meet "soon"

PanARMENIAN.Net - The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have accepted the Minsk Group co-chairs‘ proposal to meet soon under their auspices, the co-chairs said in a statement on Friday, March 1.

The co-chairs - Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America - met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on February 20 and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku on February 21 to discuss preparations for a meeting of the leaders in the near future, including possible topics for discussion. The co-chairs also held discussions with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in their respective capitals and were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk.

During the meetings in the region, the leaders briefed the co-chairs on their recent conversation on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The sides discussed the situation on the ground and their expectations for next steps.

The co-chairs assessed positively the continuing lack of casualties on the line of contact. They also welcomed the developing discussions in the region about preparing populations for peace.

Following their visit to the region, the co-chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office travelled to Vienna and Bratislava from February 28 to March 1 to brief the Permanent Representatives of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger, and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák.