Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed Monday to resume negotiations next month on a settlement to their dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region following last month's outbreak of violence, the worst in 26 years, according to AP. Following talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev "agreed on a next round of talks, to be held in June at a place to be mutually agreed, with an aim to resuming negotiations on a comprehensive settlement." "The presidents reiterated their commitment to the cease-fire and the peaceful settlement of the conflict," they said in a statement. "To reduce the risk of further violence, they agreed to finalize in the shortest possible time an OSCE investigative mechanism." The OSCE is the intergovernmental Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The statement said the presidents also "agreed to continue the exchange of data on missing persons." Among the measures accepted were an increase in monitors along the cease-fire line and the possible placement of cameras by the U.S., Russia and France, co-chairs of the so-called "Minsk Group," to observe and document violations. That group, operating under the auspices of the OSCE, is seeking to mediate an end to the conflict.
