On December 23-24, a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani public and cultural figures was held in Moscow for the first time since last year’s war in Artsakh, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing broadcast by RT on Thursday.

"We believe that this meeting has served its purpose, namely, the establishment of good communication between representatives of scientific and cultural elites of the two neighboring countries with the creation of a favorable background for a consistent normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan," she said.

According to her, the participants were unanimous on the role of intellectuals in reducing the degree of distrust between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples.

"The mood for a constructive dialogue was demonstrated also during the discussion of sensitive humanitarian topics, including the return of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijan and the handover of the remaining minefield maps by Armenia,” Zakharova said.

“We have supported and will continue to support such endeavors. We believe that such a unifying agenda is extremely relevant and will help reach substantial agreements, which will in turn create an atmosphere for moving forward in other directions as well.

“We are planning to hold such contacts on a regular basis in the future, including in Azerbaijan and Armenia," Zakharova noted.