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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

US state secretary urges Armenia, Azerbaijan leaders to advance peace process

On June 30, US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

US Secretary of State John Kerry AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

US Secretary of State John Kerry

© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

WASHINGTON, July 1. /TASS/. US Secretary of State John Kerry hold telephone conversation with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, calling on them to advance the peace process in Nagorno-Karabakh. In particular, he emphasized the importance of fulfilling their agreements, reached in St. Petersburg on June 20, the press service of the US Department of State reported on Thursday evening.

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

According to the report, "US Secretary of State John Kerry spoke today (June 30) with President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. He noted positively that the ceasefire along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact and Armenia-Azerbaijan border has largely held in recent weeks, and urged the Presidents to avoid tensions to advance the peace process."

"Secretary Kerry asked the Presidents to fulfill the commitments, including implementation of the two confidence building measures, they made at the May 16 meeting in Vienna, Austria, and the June 20 meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia," the press service said.

"The Secretary also reiterated the United States’ support for substantive talks that can lead to a comprehensive settlement, and urged the Presidents to continue their dialogue under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs," the report says.

The St. Petersburg meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement was held in a trilateral format - with the participation of the Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev - and was highly assessed by all the sides. They adopted a trilateral statement where they expressed commitment to the normalization the situation along the engagement line in Nagorno-Karabakh. "I believe that the meeting in St. Petersburg has a positive outcome. I hope that this process will continue by leaps and bounds," Aliyev said. The talks on settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh "should be meaningful, substantive and not be held just for show," he added.

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