ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 22 2004

Armenia, Azerbaijan foreign ministers attend to Karabakh problem

YEREVAN, September 22 (Itar-Tass) – Foreign ministers of Armenia and
Azerbaijan have finished the first stage of consultations on
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanyan said.

He told a news conference on Wednesday that the goal of the recent
meeting of the foreign ministers in Prague was to set a stage for
talks of the two countries’ presidents.

Oskanyan did not comment on the content of the first talks of the
Armenian and Azeri presidents, Robert Kocharyan and Ilkham Aliyev, on
the sidelines of a recent CIS summit in Astana on September 15.

Contrary to expectations, the president did not give to foreign
ministries any orders `in order to begin the second stage that is far
more closer to settlement of the problem,’ Oskanyan said.

However, this does not mean that the presidents rejected the
groundwork made by the foreign ministers in Prague, he added.

Karabakh settlement `remains in sight of the two presidents’.

`Nagorno-Karabakh does not have a price: we cannot change it for
either a railroad or any pipelines,’ Oskanyan said.