YEREVAN, OCTOBER 19, ARMENPRESS. During the meeting in Geneva the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents agreed to take measures to intensify the negotiation process and to take additional steps to reduce tensions on the Line of Contact, Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said in his speech at the 4th European Armenian Convention, reports Armenpress.

“The peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is one of the highest priorities on Armenia’s foreign policy agenda. As you know three days ago a Summit of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan was held in Geneva. When it comes to the outcome of the meeting itself everything was clearly indicated in the joint statement of the Foreign Ministers and the Co-Chairs. The meeting took place in a constructive atmosphere. The Presidents agreed to take measures to intensify the negotiation process and to take additional steps to reduce tensions on the Line of Contact. The Co-Chairs expressed their satisfaction with these direct talks, which took place after a long interval. They remain ready to work with the sides on mediating a peacefully negotiated settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As a next step, the Co-Chairs will organize working sessions with the Foreign Ministers in the near future”, FM Nalbandian said.

He stated that the Armenian side has long been advocating for the peaceful negotiated settlement and for the reduction of tensions and all these have been reflected in the joint statement. The meeting of the Presidents after about sixteen months interval was made possible due to the able mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and this in itself can be considered as a positive thing. For the first time in about four years it was possible to adopt, although quite brief, a joint statement with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan together with the Co-Chairs. As you know on numerous previous occasions Armenia expressed its readiness to join the statements of the Co-Chairs, however Azerbaijan always refused to have a common statement”, the Armenian FM stated.