Moscow hosts Armenia, Azerbaijan Foreign Ministers

By Asbarez | Monday, 13 June 2011

MOSCOW—The Armenian, Russian and Azeri foreign ministers, Edward Nalbandian, Sergei Lavrov and Elmar Mammadyarov met in Moscow Saturday, ahead of a scheduled presidential summit later this month in Kazan, Russia.

“In the course of the discussion, the sides succeeded in approximating their positions over a number of key issues of the Basic Principles of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The draft of the above-mentioned document will be discussed during the next trilateral summit to be held at the end of June of this year,” said a statement by Armenia’s foreign ministry posted on its Web site.

“At this stage we have resolved major issues. The opportunity has already been created to continue the peace talks on the basis of the basic principles for a peace agreement,” Mammadyarov told reporters in Baku Monday during a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt.

“If we can achieve rapprochement in Kazan, as we did in Sochi, then this will allow peace and stability to come to our region,” Mammadyarov told the press conference.

Bildt also gave his backing to the peace process.

“Every opportunity should be used to achieve progress in the negotiating process on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Bildt said.