There will be no meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month. However the co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk process are still hoping that they could bring together the foreign ministers of the two countries for talks to re-start discussions on a peaceful solution for the Karabakh conflict.
The US co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Process, Ambassador James Warlick, told the Azerbaijani News Agency APA, "We look forward to bringing the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan together at the UN General Assembly in September and exchange views on the way forward on a negotiated settlement. We need a renewed commitment at the highest level to finding a peaceful resolution of the conflict”.
The last time the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan met to discuss the Karabakh conflict was in Vienna in November 2013. Efforts by the co-Chair to organise another meeting have failed to materialise, although there have been meetings with the two foreign ministers. The absence of a meeting between the two presidents is however indicative of lack of progress in the negotiations. Earlier this year there was speculation that the two Presidents may meet in New York, but this possibility is now being discounted.
source: commonspace.eu
photo: United Nations Headquarters, New York (archive picture)