ARMENIAN SIDE CONSIDERS FIRST MEETING OF SARGSIAN AND ALIYEV AS CONSTRUCTIVE
Noyan Tapan
Ju ne 6, 2008
SAINT PETERSBURG, JUNE 7, NOYAN TAPAN. A meeting of the Armenian
president Serge Sargsian with Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev
took place in Saint Petersburg on June 6. The meeting started with
the participation of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan
Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mmadeyarov, the co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group Yuri Merzlaykov, Matthew Bryza and Bernard Fassier, and the
Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzei Kasprzyk.
Then the meeting of the heads of the two states continued in a
tete-a-tete format. The talk lasted an hour, after which the presidents
were again joined by the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers,
the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and the special representative of the
OSCE chairman-in-office.
The Armenian side considers the results of the first meeting of the
presidents in Saint Petersburg as constructive. During the meeting,
the sides presented their opinions on the negotiation process, and
the foreign ministers were instructed to continue negotiations in
cooperation with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The presidents also
expressed a wish that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs would continue
their activities on coordination of the sides’ approaches. An agreement
has been reached that the co-chairs will visit the region at the end
of June. The date of the visit will be specified later.
According to a press release of the RA president’s press service, an
hour’s meeting of the foreign minister of Armenia and Azerbaijan was
held prior to the meeting of the two presidents, which was followed
by another meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries.