YEREVAN. – A meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan – Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mamedyarov – took place in Brussels on Wednesday.

This is the first meeting of the foreign ministers of the two countries after the change of power in Armenia as a result of the democratic movement and the formation of a new government, Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group Igor Popov, Stefan Visconti, Andrew Schofer , as well as the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

The Armenian Foreign Minister thanked the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for organizing the meeting and stressed the importance of the process under their auspices, as well as the need to preserve the dynamics of the negotiation process.

The foreign ministry said the meeting was of a fact-finding nature and was aimed at getting acquainted with the positions of the parties.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan stressed that there is no alternative to the negotiation process, and in this context noted the importance of creating an atmosphere conducive to peace, strengthening mutual trust, steps to reduce tensions, strict adherence to the ceasefire regime and refusal of aggressive rhetoric. The Foreign Minister stressed that the realistic and constructive engagement of all parties is of paramount importance for the effectiveness of efforts aimed at achieving a lasting peace.