Your trusted source

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will try to cement the shaky ceasefire around Nagorno-Karabakh when they co-host talks between Armenia’s and Azerbaijan’s presidents in Vienna late on Monday, US Co-chairman James Warlick told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in an interview.

According to the source, James Warlick confirmed that Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev will meet in the presence of Kerry, Lavrov and Harlem Desir, France’s secretary of state for European affairs.

Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) shortly before the summit, Warlick said Kerry, Lavrov and Desir would seek “assurances” from Aliyev and Sargsyan that their nations will continue to abide by a Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped a full-scale Armenian-Azerbaijani war in 1994. That, he said, will be the main purpose of the meeting.

The U.S., Russian and French ministers will also discuss with Aliyev and Sargsyan specific “stabilization measures” that would ease tensions and prevent another flare-up of violence, added the U.S. diplomat.

Warlick next suggested that respecting the ceasefire is critical for reviving the stalled Karabakh peace process. “We are hoping for a very positive discussion,” he said, as quoted by the source.