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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Russian, Azeri, Armenian leaders agree to continue trilateral contacts

The presidents made a joint statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis

© EPA/DMITRY LOVETSKY/POOL

ST. PETERSBURG, June 20. /TASS/. Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia have agreed to continue trilateral talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, as follows from the joint statement adopted after their talks in Russia’s St. Petersburg on Monday.

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"The presidents noted major importance of their regular contacts on the Nagorno-Karabakh problems and agreed to continue them in this format to supplement the work of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs who were invited to the final part of the St. Petersburg meeting," the document says.

The leaders have "stated that they reached mutual understanding on a number of issues the settlement of which will make it possible to create conditions for progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement."

"The presidents reiterated their commitment to the agreements reached at the latest Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Vienna on May 16 that are geared towards stabilization of the situation in the conflict zone and creating of the atmosphere capable of promoting the peace process. For these ends, they agreed, in particular, to increase the number of monitors in the conflict zone. They expressed satisfaction of the observance of the ceasefire along the line of engagement in the recent time," the presidents said in the statement.

The political settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov the presidents have expressed commitment to the normalization the situation along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh and agreed to an increase in the number of OSCE monitors there.

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"Putin, Aliyev and Sargsyan agreed a trilateral statement where they expressed commitment to sustainable progress in political settlement," Lavrov said.

"Alongside identifying concrete measures to step up the negotiating process the presidents agreed a trilateral statement to confirm the readiness to normalizing the situation along the line of engagement, express consent to an increase in the number of OSCE monitors in the area of the conflict and voice the commitment to creating conditions for steady progress at negotiations on a political settlement of the conflict," he said.

"The conversation was very constructive, confidential and open. It proved that we have all the grounds to give extra impetus to the negotiating process," the Russian top diplomat said.

The ceasefire has been generally observed along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh in the recent days, Lavrov noted, which fact, in his words, is reflected in the joint statement.

He said that the OSCE secretariat is tasked to prevent and investigate incidents.

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Foreign policy Nagorno-Karabakh

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