YEREVAN (A.W.)—The U.S., Russian, and French Co-Chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group had their first meeting with Armenia’s new Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday. OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and recently appointed Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan were also present at the talks.
According to a statement published by Pashinyan’s office, the steps to arrange a favorable atmosphere for advancing the Artsakh peace negotiation process were discussed at the meeting. The statement went on to say that the participants stressed the importance of implementing confidence-building agreements that were agreed upon by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and former Armenian President Serge Sarkisian during meetings held in 2016 and 2017.
The mediators also met with Armenia’s Foreign Minister Mnatsakanyan a day earlier. The Armenian Foreign Ministry announced that they held detailed discussions on how to end the conflict, but did not provide much other detail about the meeting.
Prime Minister Pashinyan has repeatedly called for Artsakh’s direct involvement in the peace talks. Though he has expressed his readiness to meet with President Aliyev, he has said that he is not ready to negotiate on behalf of the Artsakh’s people without the Artsakh authorities at the table.
Last month, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Paris. In a statement, they said Mammadyarov expressed Azerbaijan’s readiness to resume active negotiations as soon as possible.
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