Obama ready to intensify Karabakh settlement efforts

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. President Barack Obama expressed support to the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the Associated Press reports.

Obama discussed Syria, Ukraine and the Karabakh conflict with Russia's President Vladimir Putin U.S. President Barack Wednesday, July 6.

Putin called Obama to inform him about the results of his talks with Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, which were intended to help stabilize the situation in the Karabakh conflict zone, the Kremlin said.

The White House said Obama expressed his readiness to intensify efforts together with Russia and with France, as co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Minsk Group, to achieve a comprehensive settlement to the conflict.

Talking about Syria, Putin called for encouraging moderate Syrian opposition to disengage quickly from the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front, which has been excluded from the U.S.- and Russia-brokered truce in Syria along with the Islamic State group. The Kremlin said the two leaders also reaffirmed their readiness to "build up coordination of Russian and U.S. actions in Syria in the military sphere," and noted the importance of resuming peace talks.

Regarding Ukraine, Putin argued that its government needs to follow the 2015 Minsk peace deal by launching a dialogue with rebels, granting a special status to rebel regions and preparing local elections there.