ITAR-TASS, Russia
Jan 19 2004
Russia cautiously optimistic about Karabakh settlement – FM
19.01.2005, 14.16
MOSCOW, January 19 (Itar-Tass) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov said on Wednesday that Russia was cautiously optimistic about
the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement.
Speaking at a press conference, the foreign minister said `a most
wide range of issues will be discussed’ during his visit to
Azerbaijan, scheduled for February 2. Focusing on the agenda, Lavrov
emphasized that the sides will discuss `bilateral Russian-Azerbaijani
cooperation, embracing all sides of the life of our countries’.
He also said they would pave the way for a visit to Russia by
Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev, scheduled for the second half of
December. The future talks will also focus on `CIS issues and the
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’.
The Russian foreign minister said that positive trends towards the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict took shape after a meeting of
Ilkham Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharyan in Astana,
where they also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He said Armenian and Azerbaijani officials maintain contacts as
concerns the settlement in the mostly Armenian populated Azerbaijani
enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.