International mediators trying to broker a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will visit Yerevan on June 13 for what will be their first talks with Armenia’s new government, it was announced on Tuesday.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tigran Balayan, said the U.S., Russian and French diplomats co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group will discuss ways of restarting the Karabakh peace process. They will “map out further steps” after the meetings with Armenian leaders, he told reporters.
Balayan also said there are no plans yet for face-to-face negotiations between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev or their foreign ministers.
The Minsk Group co-chairs met with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Paris on May 15. In a joint statement, they said they discussed with him “modalities for moving the peace process forward.” “Minister Mammadyarov expressed Azerbaijan's readiness to resume active negotiations as soon as possible,” read the statement.
Balayan said the Karabakh conflict will also be on the agenda of Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian’s talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov which will be held in Moscow later this week.
Mnatsakanian said late last month that the new Armenian government is committed to a compromise solution to the Karabakh conflict and hopes that it will be achieved “very soon.”
One day after taking office on May 8, Pashinian called for Karabakh’s direct involvement in the peace process. The Armenian Foreign Ministry indicated afterwards that this is not a precondition for Yerevan’s renewed contacts with Baku.
Later in May, Mammadyarov rejected Pashinian’s calls and ruled out any talks between his government and “the separatist regime in Karabakh.”