UN chief: conference on Syrian settlement to take place “very soon”May 19, 2013 - 15:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - After consultations with UN Security Council permanent members, a conference on the Syrian settlement will take place “very soon,” possibly, at the beginning of June, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday, May 19, according to RIA Novosti. “As I have been asked by the parties to convene this conference on the auspices of the United Nations, I’m now actively engaging with all the parties I have spoken to: the US, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, all other key parties,” Ban Ki-moon said during his visit to the Moscow office of RIA Novosti international news agency. “We are still trying to look at a window possibility in early June but this is a matter of still further consultations,” he said, adding he was confident the conference would be held soon. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday after a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry that an international conference on Syria at a ministerial level may be held in Geneva if both sides of the Syrian conflict agreed to participate in the event. “We share the opinion that this conference should be held in Geneva,” Lavrov said. The conference would be a follow-up to last year’s international meeting in Geneva that drafted a peace roadmap for Syria. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |