The presidents of the two nations held constructive talks on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh on Thursday and will meet again soon, the US Embassy in Chisinau, Moldova, said after hosting a meeting between the two.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with his Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, and Armenia's Serzh Sarksyan on Friday during a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a group of most former Soviet republics.
"Solving Nagorno-Karabakh is a key issue. Advances are being made step by step, and with every meeting the positions move closer," Lavrov told reporters when asked about Medvedev's meeting with the two leaders.
Armenia and Turkey, an ally of Azerbaijan, are due to meet in Zurich on Saturday to sign an accord that would pave the way for the normalization of bilateral relations, which have been bitter since the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman forces during World War One. Success in the talks in the Moldovan capital is seen as key to ease the way for restoring relations between Christian Armenia and Muslim Turkey and end a century of hostility.
Following Thursday's talks, US Ambassador to Moldova Robert Bradtke said the meeting between Aliyev and Sarksyan continued “a positive dynamic in the discussions” on the future of the mountainous enclave. “The discussions were serious and constructive. They have agreed to meet again in the near future,” Bradtke said.
