Meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Concludes in Vienna

The May 16^th meeting of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev concluded in Vienna. The meeting, the first after the resumption of armed hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh this April, was mediated by the Foreign Ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group and took place with the  participation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary European Affairs of France Harlem Desiree. Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov and OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, Igor Popov (Russia), James Warlick (USA), Pierre Andrieu (France) and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman Andrzej Kasprzyk were also in attendance.

Armenian President’s press service informs that the discussion focused on deflating the tension following the gross violation of the ceasefire regime in early April. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries insisted the sides strictly follow the ceasefire agreement reached in 1994 and reinstated in 1995. Agreements were reached for the placement of monitoring and investigative mechanisms to help maintain the ceasefire. Expansion of the mandate of the OSCE Chairman in Office Personal Representative and the possible resumption of the negotiations process were also agreed upon.