News - Kazakhstan MFA: Date for Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs’ talks not determined yet

The date of the negotiations between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan planned in Kazakhstan has not been determined yet, as Yerevan has not responded to this proposal yet. Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Alibek Bakayev announced this within the framework of the third session of the Arab Economic and Cooperation Forum with the countries of Central Asia and Azerbaijan, in Doha, the capital of Qatar, according to RIA Novosti. The Kazakhstan deputy FM noted that Armenia and Azerbaijan are not under his jurisdiction, and the date of this meeting has not been decided yet, as not all future participants have received an answer. "As far as I know, Armenia has not yet given its consent, but we hope that these negotiations will be held," Bakayev emphasized. In a press briefing held earlier in Astana, an official representative of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aibek Smadiyarov, had confirmed that such negotiations are indeed planned in Almaty, and the Kazakh side is in contact with the colleagues of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Also, according to him, these talks are expected to be conducted exclusively between the two parties, and there is no mention of mediation by Kazakhstan. As per Smadiyarov, it was no coincidence that Kazakhstan proposed Armenia and Azerbaijan a platform for these negotiations, as, according to him, Kazakhstan's mediating role in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh issue has been known since the 1990s.