Armenia still undecided on new Nalbandian-Mammadyarov talks – official

Armenia has not yet finalized its plans for a new round of talks over Nagorno-Karabakh, a deputy minister said today, commenting on a recent statement by the Azerbaijani top diplomat.

Speaking at a news conference, Shavarsh Kocharyan said that they are still undecided over Elmar Mammadyarov’s proposal for meeting with Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on the sidelines of the upcoming OSCE Ministerial Summit (set to take place in Hamburg, Germany on October 8 and 9 ). 

Addressing the statement by James Warlick, the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, on stepping down to start career with a Russian law firm (alleged to have connections with oil companies and personally with President Vladimir Putin), Kocharyan said that the diplomat is free in his future decisions after the expiry of his term in office.  “Resigning from office, he is free to master his life at his own discretion,” he replied.

Commenting on the US presidential election that saw Donald Trump win overwhelmingly in most states, Kocharyan said he doesn’t expect major changes in the country’s foreign policy in the near future. “But the president has broader potentials here than does the OSCE Minsk Group representative. So naturally, certain changes are really possible,” he added.