Interfax
April 19 2004

U.S. wants Karabakh resolved in OSCE Minsk Group format

YEREVAN. April 19 (Interfax) – The United States believes the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved within the framework of
the OSCE Minsk Group, U.S. diplomat Stephen Mann, who was appointed
in early April as co-chair of the group, told a news conference in
Yerevan on Monday.

He said that in acting as the U.S. co-chairman of the group, he will
be guided by the national interests of the United States. Mann
explained that the U.S. wants the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolved
through peace talks.

Mann met in Yerevan with Armenian President Robert Kocharian, heads
of defense and security agencies, and the leader of the self-
proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. He said his talks with
Kocharian were warm and useful.

The U.S. official will travel from Yerevan to Tbilisi and Baku for
meetings with the leaders of Georgia and Azerbaijan. <>