Russian and Armenian presidents discuss bilateral relations and regional problems

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan have today discussed the bilateral relations and regional issues, RIA Novosti reported. "We have a good tradition of the winter meetings here in Sochi, in the mountains," the Russian president said while opening the conversation. "I see a series of kind symbols." Medvedev recalled that last year finished well from the point of view of the turnover," he said. "The business contacts between the two countries develop. Business permeates through our relations." Besides the bilateral relations, he proposed to discuss the regional issues. "There are a number of difficult challenges, including those in the region." Moreover, the leaders will discuss the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement later with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan called these meetings "very useful". "Thank you for the efforts you make to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he told Medvedev. "These meetings and the time that you find for this work allow having more or less controlled situation." Sargsyan also stressed that the meeting gives a good opportunity to discuss bilateral affairs, which are also positively developing. "Thank you for your readiness to discuss big projects," Armenian President said. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will visit Sochi at the invitation of the Russian leader. Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents voiced their desire to meet again to negotiate a peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in early December 2011, the OSCE official website as a result of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Vilnius said. Nine tripartite meetings have passed since 2008. The sides met twice under Russia's mediation in 2011 - in Sochi on March 5 and in Kazan on June 24. The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno- Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.