PRESS RELEASE
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20500
Tel: 202-456-1111
President Obama Speaks with Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
Posted by Liz Sherwood-Randall on June 24, 2011 at 05:47 PM EDT
Yesterday, President Obama placed calls to Armenian President Serzh
Sargsian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. In each
conversation, he encouraged his counterparts to take concrete steps
toward a final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that has
undermined peace and development in the South Caucasus for over 20
years.
Reaffirming the statement he issued with French President Sarkozy and
Russian President Medvedev in Deauville last month, the President
called upon both sides to engage constructively at the summit that
President Medvedev convened today at Kazan, Russia.
While the two leaders made progress today, they have more work to do
to reach agreement on the Basic Principles that would form the basis
of a final peace agreement. Armenia and Azerbaijan announced that
"mutual understanding [was] achieved on a number of issues whose
resolution contributes to the creation of the conditions for the
approval of the Basic Principles."
The President told both leaders yesterday that if Armenia and
Azerbaijan demonstrate the leadership and courage to seize the
opportunity created by the recent momentum in the talks, the United
States will stand by them. Now is the time, he said, to offer the
people of the region a better future for themselves and for their
children.
Liz Sherwood-Randall is Special Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European Affairs.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/06/24/president-obama-speaks-leaders-armenia-and-azerbaijan
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20500
Tel: 202-456-1111
President Obama Speaks with Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan
Posted by Liz Sherwood-Randall on June 24, 2011 at 05:47 PM EDT
Yesterday, President Obama placed calls to Armenian President Serzh
Sargsian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. In each
conversation, he encouraged his counterparts to take concrete steps
toward a final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that has
undermined peace and development in the South Caucasus for over 20
years.
Reaffirming the statement he issued with French President Sarkozy and
Russian President Medvedev in Deauville last month, the President
called upon both sides to engage constructively at the summit that
President Medvedev convened today at Kazan, Russia.
While the two leaders made progress today, they have more work to do
to reach agreement on the Basic Principles that would form the basis
of a final peace agreement. Armenia and Azerbaijan announced that
"mutual understanding [was] achieved on a number of issues whose
resolution contributes to the creation of the conditions for the
approval of the Basic Principles."
The President told both leaders yesterday that if Armenia and
Azerbaijan demonstrate the leadership and courage to seize the
opportunity created by the recent momentum in the talks, the United
States will stand by them. Now is the time, he said, to offer the
people of the region a better future for themselves and for their
children.
Liz Sherwood-Randall is Special Assistant to the President for
National Security Affairs and Senior Director for European Affairs.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/06/24/president-obama-speaks-leaders-armenia-and-azerbaijan