Azernews.Az

BAKU – US Ambassador in Baku Matthew Bryza has said he expects progress to be made in resolving the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh during the Russian-brokered meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in late June.

Bryza told reporters Tuesday that the time has come to agree upon basic principles of the conflict settlement.

Presidents Ilham Aliyev, Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev are due to hold talks in the Russian city of Kazan on June 25. Ahead of the meeting, on June 11, the three countries’ foreign ministers will meet in Moscow to set the stage for the presidents’ talks.

The leaders of the countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group brokering Karabakh settlement - the United States, France and Russia - issued a statement at the G8 summit in the French resort of Deauville on May 27 calling on the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia "to prepare their people for peace, not war". Presidents Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev urged the two presidents to demonstrate political will and finalize the basic principles of a peace agreement during the Kazan summit.

Bryza said the Nagorno Karabakh conflict was in spotlight during Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov’s visit to the United States last week and the talks were "constructive".

"The Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Deauville statement of the US, Russian and French leaders were discussed. Also, strategic cooperation, the Afghanistan issue and issues of democracy were in focus during the minister’s meetings in the U.S."