BAKU: Armenian FM says peace talks will be fruitless

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Aug 26 2004

Armenian FM says peace talks will be fruitless

A meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents Ilham Aliyev
and Robert Kocharian will be held within the summit of leaders of CIS
countries due in Astana, Kazakhstan on September 15, Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanian told journalists.

According to Oskanian, there is a subject for discussion by the two
presidents during the meeting. Speaking about a meeting scheduled
between Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Prague on
August 29-30, Oskanian said his Azerbaijani counterpart has issued a
statement in this respect.

“If the opinions expressed in the statement are not realized, the
fourth meeting of the two countries’ foreign ministers will take
place,” he said. Oskanian underlined that he did not expect serious
results from the forthcoming meeting. “We can only continue talks and
achieve certain results. Then it will become clear how the talks will
be continued,” he emphasized. Commenting on the upcoming Prague
meeting, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov did not
elaborate on what issues related to the Upper Garabagh conflict will
be discussed. Mammadyarov noted that Azerbaijan has already expressed
its standpoint on the conflict settlement and emphasized that all
details have been discussed during the meetings held so far.