Azernews.Az

Baku deems it important to maintain the positive dynamic that emerged in talks on resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, a senior Azerbaijani official has said, citing certain hopes for settling the long-lasting dispute.
"But the Armenians’ practice of bringing the once-agreed issues to the agenda again should not be forgotten," Novruz Mammadov, the head of the Presidential Administration international relations department, told the local ANS TV channel.
"The Azerbaijani side’s efforts are still there. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with the US President shortly and this issue [the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict] will be one of the main topics of discussion. It is also possible that the Azerbaijani President will meet with the French President by the end of this year."
Russia, France and the United States – the three countries brokering a settlement to the Garabagh conflict, as well as the conflicting sides, cited positive dynamic in peace talks following an OSCE ministerial in Athens on Tuesday. In a statement, they noted the six meetings this year between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, saying the increasing frequency of these meetings has significantly contributed to an enhanced dialogue between the parties. The statement was issued after the heads of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group’s delegation, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, his French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, and US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, met in Athens with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and Armenia’s Edward Nalbandian.*