Armenian, Azeri foreign ministers meet for first time after war
The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan have met in New York for the first time after the November 2020 armistice deal that ended the Second Karabakh War between the two countries.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, which had mediated a peaceful solution to the Karabakh conflict prior to the 2020 war, released a statement saying that they had separate meetings with the two foreign ministers, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, and that a joint meeting attended by the three co-chairs and the two ministers was also held.
The co-chairs and the foreign ministers discussed a wide range of unresolved issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the co-chairs put forward concrete and targeted measures needed to be taken to de-escalate the situation and possible further steps.
The co-chairs also welcomed the meeting between the two ministers as "a demonstration of the two countries' willingness to resume the peace process through direct dialogue, which aims to develop security and stability in the region.”
The co-chairs confirmed their commitment to work with both sides to achieve a comprehensive solution to the Karabakh conflict.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also reported on the two meetings and said that the sides exchanged views about the advancement of the relations normalisation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Baku says that the Karabakh conflict ended after Azerbaijan regained lands in and around breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh because of the Second Karabakh War and that there is no longer such thing as "Nagorno-Karabakh." Baku also says that it will not grant any special status to the region. Armenia, however, seeks talks to discuss the region’s status.