Baku, Yerevan positions on peace treaty brought closer - Lavrov

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - The three-way meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia has narrowed the gap between the latter two over a peace treaty, among other issues, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"On the peace treaty and a number of articles that were discussed today, [the negotiators] managed to bring both sides' understanding closer to a common vision," Lavrov said after the meeting.

He said that his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts were now holding a bilateral meeting.

In addition, the three sides' group led by their deputy prime ministers will meet next week to discuss how to unlock transport links, the Russian minister said. "We hope that [the meeting] will achieve a positive result. The sides are already close to a final deal," Lavrov said.

The ministers have also agreed that the Azerbaijani-Armenian commission on border delimitation and demarcation will hold a meeting soon with Russia's advisory participation, he said.

"Of course, the work on the peace treaty is paramount. But today our partners confirmed that progress on specific aspects of the peace treaty would be difficult without addressing delimitation, the unblocking of transport and economic communications, without a general improvement of the security situation in Karabakh and on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border," Lavrov said.