From left to right: OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Pierre Andrieu of France, and James Warlick of the United States (Source: Photolure)

VIENNA (Public Radio of Armenia)—After concluding meetings in Yerevan and Baku with President Serzh Sarkissian President Ilham Aliyev, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have announced their support of a presidential summit between the two leaders, which they hope will take place this year.

Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France, as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk participated in the meetings.

The Co-Chairs have issued the following statement:

During our visit to Yerevan and Baku, we noted recent high-level meetings and discussed with each President current proposals to advance negotiations towards a lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  We welcomed the readiness of the Presidents to meet each other later this year, and they instructed their Foreign Ministers to continue their work with the Co-Chairs on an agenda for the presidential summit.

We also welcomed the period of relative stability along the Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border that coincided with major international events in both countries over the last several months.  However, we are concerned about the recent rise in tensions, and we urged the Presidents to avoid a deadly escalation of violence and take all measures to adhere strictly to the ceasefire.

The Presidents repeated their commitment to exchange data on missing persons under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Co-Chairs also traveled to Vienna following their meetings with Yerevan and Baku to brief the members of the Minsk Group.