The Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan commented on the meeting he had earlier this week with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliev. Sargsyan made the comments during a visit to the Ministry of Culture in Yerevan. Asked by journalists if he thought there was movement in the negotiations, he said that it was difficult to say if there was, but that he assessed the meeting as a new beginning.
"It is difficult to speak of movement in the talks, but after the meeting when I was asked about my assessments, I replied briefly "Normal". I really think it was normal. Normal in the sense that this meeting actually means, in all likelihood, a new round of negotiations and a new beginning. We have not met for almost two year and this means that high-level talks were stopped," the President said.
Serzh Sargsyan said he saw the Azerbaijani President's desire to solve the problem, but this is not enough.
"We have the same desire. I personally wish that the problem was resolved as quickly as possible However, the conditions under which the President of Azerbaijan wants to solve the problem and on what terms I do are different - that is the issue," said President Sargsyan.
President Sargsyan assessed the meeting as a positive one, adding that the presidents had already instructed their foreign ministers to start talks in early December, which could form the basis for a future meeting between the two Presidents. He added that he co-chair of the OSCE Minsk process will visit the region soon after.
source: commonspace.eu with the Press Service of the President of Armenia and Armenian media sources.
phto: President Serzh Sargsyan at the Ministry of Culture in Yerevan on 22 November 2013. During the visit he commented on the meeting that he had earlier in the week in Vienna with the president of Azerbaijan. (Picture courtesy of the Press Service of the President of Armenia).
