ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
November 2, 2004 Tuesday
Russia abstains from voting on UN GA agenda item on Karabakh
By Yelena Pankratyeva
MOSCOW
Russia abstained from voting in favor of putting an item concerning the
situation on Azerbaijan’s occupied territories on the agenda of the
U.N. General Assembly session.
Moscow believes that “the initiative of considering this issue at the
U.N. General Assembly session in parallel with its consideration by the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe can hardly produce
a positive impact on the negotiating process related to the
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,” a Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry
official said.
The results of the voting “show that a majority of the members of the
international community stick to a similar position.”
Russia “is interested in a prompt solution to the Karabakh issue and is
doing all in its power to facilitate the solution, be it in a bilateral
format or in a its capacity as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk group.”
Moscow believes that the Minsk group format “enables it to handle any
issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and to secure progress
towards peace.” “A recent meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia outlined prospects for the resumption of the talks aiming to
find a mutually acceptable solution,” the Russian Foreign Affairs
Ministry official noted.
The U.N. General Assembly took a vote on the motion to put an item on
the situation in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories on the agenda of its
current, 59th session. Forty-two delegations voted in support of
Azerbaijan’s request, two delegations voted against with ninety-nine
states, including Russia, abstaining.