US State Department Appreciates Medvedev’s Efforts in Achieving Astrakhan Declaration

At an Oct. 28 state department briefing, US State Assistant Secretary in Bureau of Public Affairs Philip Crowley had the following to say regarding the Oct. 27 trilateral meeting of the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia which took place in the Russian city of Astrakhan. 

“We welcome the October 27 joint statement, yesterday’s statement by Presidents Medvedev, Sargsyan and Aliyev in which Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of bodies with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

“We appreciate President Medvedev’s personal efforts to reach this agreement, which aims to build confidence between the parties and to strengthen the 1994 ceasefire. This joint statement represents a positive development in the ongoing OSCE Minsk Group process to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict of Nagorno-Karabakh and we look forward to seeing its implementation as soon as possible.”