Thursday, November 16 2017 16:01

ArmInfo. Obviously, there is some activity on the part of the co- chairs, in connection with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Armenian Deputy Foreign  Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan stated this in a conversation with  journalists on November 16 after a government meeting.

At the same time, according to him, in general, the vector of the process is  given in Vienna, and has not changed to this day. In the deputy  minister's opinion, the expectation of the co-chairs is to make  progress in the settlement of the NKR issue. To this end, as  Kocharyan stressed, there must be trust between the parties, which in  turn presupposes the implementation of the Vienna and St. Petersburg  agreements. As for the forthcoming visit of the Russian Foreign  Minister to Armenia and the possibility of new proposals for the  settlement of the conflict, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the  Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the Foreign Ministry of Russia  has repeatedly stated that it does not operate autonomously and  functions in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship."  Sergei Lavrov himself repeatedly and publicly denied the existence of  a Russian version of the conflict settlement," Kocharian said. At the  same time, the Deputy Foreign Minister agreed that for several years  not only has there been no progress in the negotiation process, but  the situation in some respects is explosive, as evidenced by the  events of April last year. Asked if a meeting between the  representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan is possible in the near  future, he replied that, at present, the prospect is not being  considered.  Nevertheless, he did not rule out that the mediators  will initiate a meeting between the Armenian and Azeri FMs.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit Yerevan on November  20-21. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry  Maria Zakharova announced this on November 16 during a weekly  briefing. It is planned to sign a consultation plan between the  Russian Foreign Ministry and the Armenian Foreign Ministry for  2018-2019. The agenda of the bilateral talks includes a wide range of  cooperation through the UNECE, CSTO, the CIS, coordination of  positions within the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the Black  Sea Economic Cooperation Organization, and other international  forums, "Zakharova said, adding that the foreign ministers Russia and  Armenia will discuss the issues of regional security, including the  prospects for the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. "Before the visit,  Lavrov will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan on November 20.