RIA Novosti, Russia
March 26 2004
ARMENIAN AND AZERI FOREIGN MINISTERS NOT MEET IN PRAGUE
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, 2004. (RIA NOVOSTI). The meeting between the
Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers in Prague was postponed because
Azerbaijan was not prepared for it, said the European Union special
representative for the South Caucasus, ambassador Heikki Talvitie.
“I do not exactly know all the reasons for which the authorities of
Azerbaijan decided to postpone the meeting. But I believe that they
were simply not ready to hold it,” Talvitie said.
At the same time, the ambassador stressed that the point at issue was
the postponement of only one meeting, and this fact should not be
assessed as the termination of the negotiating process on the
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Talvitie also said that during his meetings in Baku he became
convinced that the Azeri leaders understood there was no alternative
to the negotiating process.