Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan meet, and agree to meet again

The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met on 20 June in Washington, under the auspices of the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group (  Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk also participated. 

A terse statement posted on the OSCE website overnight stated:

"During their discussions, the participants exchanged views on recent developments on the ground and core issues of the settlement process.  The Foreign Ministers clarified their positions and expectations with respect to implementation of the humanitarian and security measures proposed by the mediators during their last trip to the region. 

Noting with regret recent casualties, the Co-Chairs urged the sides to take immediate measures to restore an atmosphere conducive to peace and favorable to substantive talks.  They called on the sides to reaffirm their commitment to observe the ceasefire strictly and to refrain from any provocative action, including the use of snipers and engineering works along the line of contact and the international border.

During their conversation with the Co-Chairs, the Foreign Ministers agreed upon the importance of taking full advantage of the existing direct communication links in order to react swiftly to reduce the risk of escalation.

The Foreign Ministers agreed to meet again in the near future under the auspices of the Co-Chairs."

source: commonspace.eu

 

Related articles

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)