Lavrov: Meeting with Aliyev covered further steps towards progress in Karabakh peace process

The meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid special attention to the further steps that can and must lead to progress in the Karabakh peace process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, according to the official website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.    

At the same time, Azerbaijani media outlets report that during a joint press conference with Mammadyarov, Lavrov said the details of the meetings on Nagorno-Karabakh are not publicized for obvious reasons.  

"The main purpose of the St. Petersburg meeting is to treat even slightly encouraging factors on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict very carefully not to lose them," APA quotes Lavrov as saying.  

"There is reason to hope that we are now much closer to achieving the settlement of the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict," said the Russian FM.
Mammadyarov, in turn, said that the ongoing discussions are aimed at achieving progress in the rapprochement of the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Intensified dialogue, even tripartite talks are underway on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said the Azerbaijani FM.  

"The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs are actively involved in the discussions, the main goal of which is to achieve progress on uncoordinated issues," APA quotes Mammadyarov as saying.  
"We should clean up the negotiation table from existing problems in stages and step by step.  Eventually, the existence of a military component is a threat to regional security, as well as the security on a global scale", added the minister.  

As regards the next meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Mammadyarov said that a specific decision will be taken later and it is not clear yet whether the meeting will be held in France or another country.