The US Department of Statewelcomed yesterday’s meeting between the Azeri and Armenian president’s inVienna.

“We commend the presidentsof Armenia and Azerbaijan for this first step, and are encouraged they haveagreed to a follow-up meeting in the months ahead,” Jen Psaki, a spokeswomanfor the department, said in a statement yesterday.

“Their first meeting inalmost two years, this summit is an important step toward restarting dialogueand demonstrates the leaders’ shared commitment to bring an end to theNagorno-Karabakh conflict. As a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group along withRussia and France, the United States urges both presidents to work activelytowards a peaceful resolution to the conflict, which has taken a heavy toll onthe people on all sides,” she said.

Armenia captured nearly 20percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territory, includingNagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts, in a war after the SovietUnion’s collapse in 1991.

Nearly 20,000 Azeris werekilled and a million displaced before Russia brokered a ceasefire in May 1994. Thesides have yet to sign a peace agreement.

ANN.Az