Karabakh “most likely” ignored at Bush-Putin meeting – Azeri daily

Ekho, Baku
25 Feb 05

Excerpt from report by R. Tofiqoglu in Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on
25 February headlined “Have George Bush and Vladimir Putin ignored the
Karabakh problem?” and subheaded “US and Russian leaders did not speak
about the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict at the joint press conference”

Contrary to predictions, most likely the expectations of the
Azerbaijani public have not been confirmed. The Nagornyy Karabakh
problem was not discussed at the Bratislava meeting [on 24 February]
between the US and Russian presidents, George Bush and Vladimir Putin.

Nevertheless, it is not ruled out that Bush and Putin discussed the
Karabakh issue at their over two-hour tete-a-tete meeting. They did
not however mention a word at the press conference ensuing the
meeting. Of course, nobody asked questions of this kind.

[Passage omitted: other aspects of the meeting]