Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers have agreed to hold a joint meeting on the margins of the December 2017 OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna to discuss the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs said in a statement on Thursday, November 16.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America) met separately on 14 and 16 November with the foreign minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian and the foreign minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov. The Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, also participated in the meetings.

The co-chairs discussed with the foreign ministers concrete steps to implement the agreements reached by President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during the Geneva summit on 16 October 2017 as well as other issues raised by the co-chairs in Geneva. During the meetings, the co-chairs and the Ministers reviewed a number of working proposals currently on the table.

The ministers agreed to hold a joint meeting on the margins of the December 2017 OSCE Ministerial Council in Vienna.

The co-chairs will prepare the agenda for this meeting, which will include substantive issues of the political settlement, as well as specific measures to reduce tensions on the line of contact. Special attention will be paid to finalizing the expansion of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office.