Baku, Azerbaijan, June 23
Trend:
Concerns regarding Russia’s pushing co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group away and limiting the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to itself are unfounded rumors, Mariya Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, said June 23, the website of the ministry reported.
She was commenting on the meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in St. Petersburg.
“Such a trilateral format was also previously used to discuss sensitive issues,” said Zakharova. “Everything happens in close contact with the other two co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.”
Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan adopted a joint statement following the meeting in St. Petersburg June 20.
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents confirmed the agreements reached during the Vienna meeting held May 16 on stabilizing the situation in the zone of conflict and creating an atmosphere to push forward the peace process, said the message on the website of Kremlin. For this purpose, the sides agreed to increase the number of international observers in the zone of conflict.
Zakharova added that Russia retains all the achievements and potential reached by the OSCE Minsk Group.
The parties themselves highly appreciated the efforts of Russia and this meeting itself, and that proves its success, Zakharova said.