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Armenia-Azerbaijan meeting ‘signal’ for Karabakh dialogue — lawmaker

The meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian presidents earlier this week is the first good signal for launching further dialogue on settling the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh — Russia’s upper house speaker
Russia’s upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko  Russian Federation Council press service/TASS
Russia’s upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko
© Russian Federation Council press service/TASS

ST.PETERSBURG, May 19. /TASS/. The meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents earlier this week is the first good signal for launching further dialogue on settling the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia’s upper house speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Thursday.

"This is the first such a good signal - the meeting of presidents of the two countries (Azerbaijan and Armenia). This has already laid the foundation of a dialogue," Matviyenko said at the meeting with Speaker of Azerbaijan’s National Assembly Ogtay Asadov.

Matviyenko said it is now most important "to build trust and move towards solving the problem" in the Nagorno-Karabakh. She stressed that the conflict can be resolved only through resuming dialogue and talks.

The Russian side understands its responsibility as a member of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), she added. "We will provide every assistance both on bilateral basis and as part of the Minsk Group of the OSCE," Matviyenko stressed.

On May 16, the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Vienna. Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev agreed to "make steps to monitor observance of agreements on ceasefire and introduce a mechanism on investigating incidents." They also agreed to "possible resume the negotiations process on settling the conflict," the press service of the Armenian president said.