Armenpress

ARMENIAN MP SAYS U.S.A. LAUNCHES SEPARATE EFFORT TO
HELP END KARABAKH DISPUTE

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS: An opposition
parliament member argued today that the U.S.A. has
launched a separate effort to help resolve the
Armenian-Azerbaijani dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Viktor Dalakian from the opposition Ardarutyun
(Justice) alliance said the USA, parallel to talks
under the aegis of the OSCE Minsk group, has stepped
up efforts in this direction. He said that was his
impression from a series of meetings with Assistant
Secretary of State Daniel Freid when he was visiting
Yerevan together with Steven Mann, the US cochairman
in the Minsk group. He downplayed fears that
hostilities may resume, saying US officials were
taking every action to prevent it. “US officials made
it clear that a new war could not resolve the
conflict,” he said.
Meantime Steven Mann told in an interview to the
RFE/RL, Azerbaijani service that the time was working
against the parties to the Karabakh conflict. Steven
Mann reiterated that `2006 is the opportune year for a
deal’ and that the sides need to complete the serious
work which he hopes will result in tangible progress.
`We are continuing our work. The co-chairs remain of
the opinion that it is very desirable to get some
version of an agreement in 2006, but in the final
analysis this depends on the two countries
themselves,’ the American mediator said.