Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hosted the talks between his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts as part of continuing international efforts to break the impasse in the Karabakh peace process. None of the ministers made any public statements after the talks.
“Discussions of pressing issues related to the resolution of the Karabakh problem continued at the meeting,” read a short statement issued by the Armenian Foreign Ministry the next morning. The ministry gave no details.
The Russian and Azerbaijani foreign ministries issued no press releases on the trilateral meeting.
The three ministers previously met in Moscow on December 9, just over a week after the failure by Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s presidents to reach any agreements on the margins of an OSCE summit held in Astana, Kazakhstan. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had expressed hope that they will iron out their remaining disagreements on the basic principles of a Karabakh settlement proposed by the Russian, U.S. and French mediators.
Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev did not even meet at Astana. They only pledged “more decisive efforts” at Karabakh peace in a joint statement with Medvedev, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Lavrov said earlier this month that the talks hosted by him center on “two or three” sticking points preventing the signing of an Armenian-Azerbaijani framework peace accord. “Although they are insignificant in comparison with other issues that have been agreed upon, they are considered more difficult ones,” he said without elaboration.
An Azerbaijani news agency said afterwards that the next Moscow meeting will focus on preparations for a visit to the conflict zone in February of Russian, U.S. and French diplomats co-chairing OSCE Minsk Group.