Russian, Armenian, Azerbaijani officials hold 3-way meeting in Minsk

MOSCOW

The foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan held a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) ministerial meeting on Oct. 14 in Belarus' capital Minsk.

Taking place at Moscow's initiative, the talks were held on the implementation of agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that Baku liberated from nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the meeting.

Russia's Sergey Lavrov, Azerbaijan's Jeyhun Bayramov, and Armenia's Ararat Mirzoyan noted that Nov. 9 would be the first anniversary of the Karabakh deal.

"The Russian side welcomed the mutual intention expressed by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to normalize relations between the two countries, and confirmed its readiness to fully contribute to this process both in a national capacity and through the OSCE (Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group Co-Chairs," the statement read.

Sergey Lavrov also held separate meetings with his Armenian and Azerbaijani colleagues on bilateral issues, it added.