Edward Nalbandian discussed Karabakh settlement with Bridget Brink

ArmInfo. Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian discussed with US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia Bridget Brink the issue of Karabakh settlement, the press-service of the Armenian Ministry informs.

During the meeting the interlocutors discussed possibilities of implementation of Vienna and Petersburg agreements. Brink noted that the USA highly assesses relations with Armenia and is interested in deepening them.

The interlocutors touched upon the development prospects of Armenian-US trade-economic cooperation and exchanged opinions on the work of Armenian-US intergovernmental commission on economic issues.  The sides also touched upon regional and international problems.

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. On June 20, 2016, the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia met in Saint Petersburg 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.