ITAR-TASS, Russia
July 20, 2017 Thursday 11:47 AM GMT


Ministry says reports on preparations of meeting between Armenian,
Azerbaijani presidents in Moscow contradict reality

 MOSCOW July 20

HIGHLIGHT: Reports that Moscow allegedly proposed to organize a
meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan contradict reality, Deputy Director of the
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department Artyom
Kozhin said on Thursday.



MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Reports that Moscow allegedly proposed to
organize a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan contradict reality, Deputy Director
of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Department
Artyom Kozhin said on Thursday.

"We have paid attention to an article in Izvestiya of July 17 dubbed
‘Moscow organizes meeting between Armenian, Azerbaijani leaders,’" he
said. "We would like to point to some factual inaccuracies made in the
publication. It quotes Russian Foreign Ministry sources, saying that a
proposal to organize a meeting between the Transcaucasian states in
Russia was made during alleged talks between Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov and Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers said to
be held on the sidelines of the unofficial meeting of the OSCE Council
of Foreign Ministers in Mauerbach."

"This contradicts reality," Kozhin stressed.

"Not all ministers of the above-mentioned were in Austria at the
time," he went on. "Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers were
meeting in Brussels that day. The consultations were organized by the
‘trio’ of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen (Russia, France and the
US). The meeting focused on the issues related to further work on the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, the ‘trio’s’ mediatory efforts, including
a proposal to hold a regular Armenian-Azerbaijani summit before the
end of the year. The summit venue was not discussed extensively."