The briefing of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian with the journalists after the meeting of the Presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan held on June 17 in St. Petersburg

As an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair country Russia plays an important role in the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. By the initiative and participation of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev already the sixth meeting is being held between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The previous meetings and negotiations were held in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Chisinau and Sochi. A number of meetings took place also by the initiative of the Co-Chairs. And today’s trilateral meeting was the continuation of the previous negotiations.

During the recent months the contacts between the sides were carried out on the level of the Ministers by the mediation of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov, which was fully supported by the other Co-Chair countries – the USA and France.

The meetings in the presence of President Medvedev give an opportunity to bring the positions of the sides closer, meanwhile the sides are able to further clarify their approaches on those issues, upon which they have not been able to agree, and that creates an opportunity to continue the negotiations and move forward.

The trilateral meeting held today, on June 17, passed in a constructive atmosphere, the sides emphasized what they have reached up until now as a result of the meetings and agreed to continue the negotiations on that basis.

The Presidents gave instructions to the Foreign Ministers to continue the contacts. Meetings with the Co-Chairs will also take place.

Tomorrow, on June 18, the meeting of the President of the Republic of Armenia with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs is to be held. Bernard Fassier, Robert Bradtke, Igor Popov and Andrzej Kasprzyk, the personal representative to the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, will visit the region at the beginning of July.

Answering the question on the Madrid Proposals, the Foreign Affairs Minister said that since November 2007 one document has been on the table of negotiations – the Madrid Principles presented by the Co-Chairs, which is also registered as an official proposal at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna. Since then there have been several proposal of working nature.

Summarizing the trilateral meeting, the Armenian Foreign Minister said; “The process continues with the support of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs – Russia, the United States and France. I think that today’s meeting was useful. It was another important stage in the negotiation process of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem.”