GARABAGH MEDIATOR EXPECTS NO BREAKTHROUGH AT MINISTERS’ MEETING
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
May 11 2006
Baku, May 10, AssA-Irada
The OSCE mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan
Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict will discuss new proposals with the
foreign ministers of the two countries in Strasbourg on May 18-19,
the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuri Merzlyakov, said.
“We will learn the reaction of the two sides,” he told ANS TV
channel. Merzlyakov said the French mediator Bernard Fassier had
informed him of the outcomes of his recent visit to Azerbaijan and
Armenia. Fassier said the conflicting sides took the new proposals
seriously and expressed interest in them.
“Some of the proposals are new, while others were built up based on
the previous ones. I hope the parties will finally agree maximally
on the conflict resolution principles.
“However, I am not expecting much from the upcoming discussions, as
this will be a regular working meeting. But what I can say is that
official Baku and Yerevan are studying our proposals.”
Merzlyakov noted that if the proposals are not fully accepted by
either party, the intermediaries will wait for further suggestions
from the sides.
The Russian co-chair said a private meeting of the Azeri and Armenian
foreign ministers will be held in Strasbourg as well. “I think the
sides should discuss our new proposals on their own,” he added.
The parties failed to agree upon the issues of principle during the
latest talks held by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian in
Rambouillet, France in February, which was followed by mutual threats.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
