THE FIRST MEETING

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on June 07, 2008
Armenia

President Serge Sargsyan’s meeting with his Azeri counterpart I. Aliev
took place yesterday in `Baltica Star’ hotel, St. Petersburg.

This was Serge Sargsyan’s first meeting with the Azeri President after
assuming the post of Presidency. The Presidents’ meeting was preceded
by another meeting between their Foreign Ministers which lasted around
an hour.

The meeting began with the participation of the Armenian and Azeri
Foreign Ministers Eduard Nalbandyan and Elmar Mamedyarov, OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs Matthew Bryza and Bernard Fassier, as well as Special
Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andjey Kasporchik.

Then, the meeting between the leaders of the two countries continued in
the tête-à-tête format. The private discussion lasted around an hour,
and then, the Armenian and Azeri Foreign Ministers, the Co-Chairs of
the OSCE Minsk Group and the Special Representative of the OSCE
Chairman-in-Office again joined the Presidents.

The Armenian side makes constructive assessments on the results of the
first Sargsyan-Aliev meeting held in St. Petersburg.

During the familiarization meeting, the parties expressed their
viewpoints on the negotiation process and recommended their Foreign
Ministers to proceed with the talks in collaboration with the OSCE
Co-Chairs. The Presidents also expressed a desire for the Co-Chairs to
continue the activities towards coordinating the approaches of the
parties.

According to the agreement achieved, the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group
are to visit the region at the end of June. The exact time-limits of
the visit will be specified in the near future.