Armenian, Azerbaijan presidents meet for first time in two years

The presidents of arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Vienna Nov. 19 for the first time in two years in a bid to restart stalled negotiations over the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, mediators said. Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev will meet along with mediators from the Organisation for the Security and Co-operation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group, which has been spearheading attempts to negotiate a solution to the conflict.

“The Armenia-Azerbaijan Summit will take place in Vienna on November 19,” James Warlick, theAmerican co-chairman of the Minsk Group, wrote on Twitter. The press service for the Armenian president confirmed in a statement that the meeting would happen and said that Sargsyan would fly to Austria later on Monday. “A meeting will take place November 19 in Vienna between President Sargsyan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev,” the statement said.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Azerbaijani authorities. Aliyev is currently in Ukraine on an official visit.