No breakthrough in Karabakh talks soon – Russian mediator

Arminfo
25 Jun 04

YEREVAN

At some stage, the presence of Nagornyy Karabakh representatives in
the talks will become a necessity, the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE
Minsk Group for the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict,
Yuriy Merzlyakov, has said in an interview with Regnum news agency,
commenting on the possible involvement of Nagornyy Karabakh
representatives in the talks.

“I believe that Nagornyy Karabakh is a party to the conflict. A
Karabakh representative signed the cease-fire agreement,” the Russian
co-chairman said. Asked whether Armenia could play a secondary role
at some point, Yuriy Merzlyakov said: “Let’s be frank – Karabakh
cannot settle all problems on its own.” He said that Armenia’s
participation in the talks was important since the conflict had turned
from an internal ethnic problem into a conflict between two
countries. In brief, the participation of all sides is vital, the
Russian co-chairman added.

Commenting on the Prague meeting [on 21 June] of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Yuriy Merzlyakov noted that “in
principle, all the participants in the Prague meeting, including the
two countries’ foreign ministers, gave quite positive assessments”. He
said that the discussions had a very competent and constructive
nature.

“As for my assessment, it is too early to air it yet. I would only
note that no breakthrough should be expected at the current stage. The
agenda of the future talks on the settlement is being drafted. This is
a selection of issues that will be discussed by the sides with mutual
consent. This is a time-consuming job that cannot lead to a
significant breakthrough yet,” Merzlyakov said, adding that no
documents were being discussed at the current stage.

The Russian co-chairman said that “there are new thoughts and ideas,
of course, since the meetings have an open agenda”. “Both sides and
the co-chairmen put forward proposals. The questions that will be
discussed in detail in the future are selected in this way,” the
Russian co-chairman said, adding that there was an agreement on the
confidentiality of the discussions.