RUSSIA-AZERBAIJAN-MFA-SETTLEMENT-KARABAKH

Foreign Ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan Sergei Lavrov and Elmar Mammadyarov will discuss the Nagorno Karabakh peace process in the face of new proposals from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow on Monday, ITAR-TASS reports.

The Russian foreign minister visited Baku and Yerevan on July 8. He handed over the messages to Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, which spelled out the motion of the Russian President on seeking the ways to settle the Karabakh conflict. The sides pledged to study the documents and to feedback soon.

At the meetings in Armenia and Azerbaijan Lavrov noted that Medvedev "is genuinely interested in the Nagorno Karabakh peace process to be successful". The minister said with confidence that "all the conditions to reach an agreement already exist".

The experts recalled that on June 24 during the summit in Kazan the three Presidents failed to agree on the Basic principles on settlement. The diplomatic circles hope that "fresh ideas of the Russian leadership will help promote the peace process and put it on the right track".

Along with the Karabakh problem Lavrov and Mammadyarov will discuss the entire scope of relations between the countries. "They will exchange the instruments of ratification of the Russian-Azerbaijani Treaty on the State Border and will sign a plan of consultations between the foreign Ministries for the second half of 2011 and 2012," a diplomatic source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister is expected to meet with Deputy Prime Minister, Presidential Representative in the North Caucasus Federal District Alexander Khloponin and Federation Council Vice-Chairperson Svetlana Orlova.