BERNARD FASSIER: WE WANT TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR KOCHARYAN-ALIEV MEETING

ArmRadio.am
14.04.2006 14:50

During the coming weeks active discussions are expected around
Nagorno-Karabakh. The regional tour of the OSCE Minsk Group French
Co-Chair Bernard Fassier came to an end yesterday. Today he will have
consultation meetings with the Russian mediator Yuri Merzlyakov and
Deputy Foreign Minister Gennadi Karaskin in Moscow. The coming days
the visit of the US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Steven Mann to
Yerevan and Baku is expected, on April 21 Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan will meet Yuri Merzlyakov in Moscow.

As it is known, on April 28 Ilham Aliev is leaving for Washington,
where he will be received by US president George Bush. Naturally,
one of the central topics of the meeting will be the Karabakh issue.

Late April or early May Bernard Fassier is expected to visit the
region. Early may the Co-Chars will hold a consultation meeting in
Moscow. However, the active discussions on the settlement issue and
the visits of the mediators to the region in no way speak about a
break in the negotiations process. Moreover, at this moment it is not
clear whether a new meeting between Kocharyan and Aliev will be held.

“We want to create opportunities for the meeting of the Presidents of
the two countries. Today I cannot indicate the date and place of the
meeting, since nothing has been set so far. It will be good if there
is an opportunity to have the meeting be held in June. If not, let’s
hope that such meeting will be held in July,” Bernard Fassier declared.