Putin Tells Obama about Karabakh Conflict, Syria and Donbass

The Presidents of Russia and the US had a phone talk on July 6. As the press service of the Russian President reported, Putin informed Obama, as the head of a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, USA, France), on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the outcome of the trilateral meeting with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, in St. Petersburg on June 20.

Putin stressed that, organizing the negotiations, Russia intended to promote the speedy stabilization of the situation in the conflict zone and the creation of conditions for the promotion of the peace process.

Barack Obama praised the efforts undertaken by Russia. The sides agreed to continue active joint work within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group in this important area.

During the consideration of the situation in Syria, Vladimir Putin called his interlocutor to facilitate the speedy demarcation of the moderate Syrian opposition from the terrorist group Jebhat an-Nusra and other extremists, who are not covered by the ceasefire. Both sides reaffirmed their readiness to intensify the coordination of the military actions of Russia and the US in Syria, as well as the importance of resuming the Syrian internal negotiation process under UN auspices in order to reach a political settlement of the conflict.

In discussing the Ukrainian topic the Russian President reiterated the importance of Kiev’s strict compliance with the Minsk agreement of 12 February 2015, including the establishment of a real direct dialogue with Donetsk and Lugansk, the amnesty, the provision of a special status to the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic, and the joint development of the law on local elections. The absence of any alternative to the political settlement path was highlighted. Also noted was the need to intensify efforts to stop violations of the ceasefire and provide full implementation of the agreement on the withdrawal of heavy weapons and the separation of the conflicting parties. In this regard, the role of the Special OSCE monitoring mission was emphasized. -02D-