Russian and French Foreign MinistersSergey Lavrov and Jean-Marc Ayrault discussed the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement and the situation in the Middle East.

In a phone conversation on Wednesday, June 1, the diplomats also weighed in on cooperation and bilateral ties between the two countries.

Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents met in Vienna on May 16, with top diplomats from Russia, France and the United States mediating the summit as OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs. The sides agreed to finalize in the shortest possible time an OSCE investigative mechanism. The Presidents also agreed to the expansion of the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. Also, they agreed to continue the exchange of data on missing persons under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).