MG co-chairs bracing up for presidents’ meeting

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 5 2005

Baku, May 4, AssA-Irada — The OSCE Minsk Group (MG) co-chairs
are preparing for the Warsaw meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian
presidents, the Russian co-chair of the MG Yuri Merzlyakov has said.

Merzlyakov told local TV channels that after the presidents’ meeting
the parties will start coordinating six ‘elements’ on the Upper
Garabagh conflict resolution that have already been determined. These
elements may lay groundwork for an agreement to be reached in the
future, he said.

“We will tackle coordination of these issues after this meeting.”
Merzlyakov noted that there may be additions to these ‘elements’ and
the co-chairs have forwarded relevant proposals to the conflicting
sides.

Touching upon frequent ceasefire breaches on frontline and the three
Azerbaijani soldiers kept from the Armenian captivity, Merzlyakov
said the MG co-chairs have issued a joint statement on the matter.

“We have called on the parties to honor their obligations to maintain
ceasefire. As for the release of the soldiers, the issue concerns
not only their return but also exchange of captives in general. The
problem persists for this very reason.”

The Russian co-chair added that ceasefire violations will be in focus
at the Warsaw meeting.*