OSCE negotiates with Aliyev and Sargsyan for next meeting on Karabakh

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev speaks during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. AP photo

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group, which works on resolving of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has said it has maintained contacts with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, on arranging the next meeting to find a settlement.

The last meeting between the heads of Armenia and Azerbaijan took place on June 20 in St. Petersburg in a trilateral format with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, Sargsyan and Aliyev met on May 16 in Vienna. 

“During the meeting in Vienna and St. Petersburg, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia confirmed willingness to hold their next meeting with a view to ensuring progress in the negotiation process. We continue to work on exploring the possibility of organizing the next meeting between the presidents and keep in touch with the presidents and foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia to discuss the current proposals on the organization of the meeting,” the U.S. co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick, was quoted as saying by Azerbaijan’s News.az website, referring to Russia’s RIA Novosti.

Warlick had said on Aug. 10 that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries - U.S., Russia and France - were committed to continuing dialogue between the two presidents and were exploring opportunities to bring them together again soon.