YEREVAN (RFE/RL)–The unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was high on the agenda of talks in Yerevan on Friday between Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Berdyannikov and Armenian and Karabakh leaders–officials said
Berdyannikov discussed with President Robert Kocharian "the process of a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict and possible developmen’s," according to the presidential press service. No details were reported. The Russian diplomat also met the same day with the foreign minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic–Naira Melkumian.
The Karabakh representation in Yerevan said in a statement that the talks focused on "possible ways" of the settlement.
Berdyannikov was accompanied by Nikolay Gribkov–Russia’s representative in the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Russia co-chairs the body together with France and the United States. Kocharian and his Azeri counterpart Haydar Aliyev are scheduled to meet in Moscow on January 25 on the sidelines of a Commonwealth of Independent States summit. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said on Thursday that the meeting will be important for the future of the Karabakh peace process which showed signs of progress in the course of last year.