Tuesday, October 25 2016 15:42

ArmInfo. The date of the next meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, has not been specified yet, OSCE MG Co-Chair, 

Ambassador James Warlick of the United States, told journalists in  Yerevan on October 25.  One of the subjects of the talks in Baku and  Yerevan is organization of the high-level meeting to the Karabakh  peace process, the diplomat said adding he pins hopes with sooner  meeting of the leaders. 

The ambassador recalled that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group  are traveling to the region and were in Azerbaijan on October 22-23,  where they met with the president and foreign minister of that  country.

Ambassador Warlick said the mediators were in Karabakh on October 24  where they met with the "de facto leadership" and then arrived in  Yerevan via Kelbajar. James Warlick said they will be meeting with  the president, foreign minister and defense minister of Armenia later  today to discuss the situation in the conflict zone and continue the  talks for a comprehensive ceasefire. 

To note, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of  Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met in Vienna on May 16 to advance a peaceful  resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Presidents  reiterated their commitment to the ceasefire and the peaceful  settlement of the conflict. To reduce the risk of further violence,  they agreed to finalize in the shortest possible time an OSCE  investigative mechanism. The Presidents also agreed to the expansion  of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE  Chairperson in Office.  Finally, they agreed to continue the exchange  of data on missing persons under the auspices of the International  Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to which the Presidents committed  during the Paris summit of October 2014. The Presidents agreed on a  next round of talks, to be held in June at a place to be mutually  agreed, with an aim to resuming negotiations on a comprehensive  settlement.

The Presidents of  Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met in Saint  Petersburg on June 20 2016 at the behest of Vladimir Putin.  Reaching  a settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was the subject of  discussion at the meeting, which took place behind closed doors.  Following the consultations, the presidents of Russia, Armenia and  Azerbaijan adopted a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to  normalizing the situation on the line of contact and giving their  approval to an increase in the number of OSCE observers working in  the conflict zone.  The joint statement also expresses the parties'  commitment to putting in place the conditions required for steady  progress in negotiations on a political settlement to the conflict.  The presidents made a point of their regular contacts on Karabakh and  agree to continue them in such format as addition to the efforts by  the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs who were invited to the final stage of  the meeting in St.  Petersburg.