Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian (far left) meets with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs on the sidelines of a Minsk Group meeting in Belgrade (Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia)

BELGRADE (Combined Sources)—Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov, James Warlick and Pierre Andrieu, and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, on the sidelines of an OSCE ministerial meeting in Belgrade on Thursday, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reports.

The parties continued discussions on furthering the settlement process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including the organization of a meeting between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, due to take place before the end of the year.

Nalbandian reiterated Armenia’s commitment to continue to work with the Minsk Group Co-chairs to reach a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Nalbandian also met with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zanier while in Belgrade, exchanging views on the Minsk Group agenda, as well as urgent international and regional developments. In regard to Nagorno-Karabakh, Nalbandian and Zanier agreed that there was no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) also met on Thursday in Belgrade for a meeting of foreign ministers of member states. Nalbandian currently serves as the Chairman of the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers.

On the agenda of the CSTO meeting was discussions on the shooting down of a Russian military jet by Turkish armed forces near the Turkey-Syria border on November 24. Nalbandian noted that the incident was a serious blow to the consolidated efforts of the international community in the fight against terrorism and to the settlement of the conflict in Syria.