Russia says talks on Nagorno-Karabakh constructive

MOSCOW, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The meeting between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute was constructive, an aide to the Russian president said on Saturday.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in Moscow on Friday and then met in a tripartite format with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday.

The talks were "prolonged and, in our view, very constructive, "Medvedev's foreign policy aide Sergei Prikhodko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

At the meeting, Medvedev reaffirmed Russia's readiness to continue its efforts to help find mutually acceptable decisions, Prikhodko said.

Sargsyan and Aliyev have met six times over the past year in a bid to settle the territorial dispute.

The talks between Aliyev and Sargsyan on Friday "were deep, concrete and serious," said Matthew Bryza, U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group, a mediator in the conflict.

They failed to reach a consensus, but the talks will continue, Bryza was quoted as saying by the Itar-Tass news agency.

Nagorno-Karabakh, a region with a largely ethnic Armenian population, declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991, sparking conflict ever since.