ARMENIA UPBEAT ON KARABAKH TALKS IN STRASBOURG
Mediamax news agency
19 May 06
Yerevan, 19 May: Yerevan assesses positively the meeting of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers [Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar
Mammadyarov] in Strasbourg on 18 May, the press service of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry has told Mediamax.
“The Armenian side assesses positively the meeting, apart from the
fact that there still remain unsolved and uncoordinated issues,”
the Foreign Ministry said.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that the main aim of the Strasbourg
meeting was to prepare for a visit to the region of high-ranking
diplomats of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries – Russia,
the USA and France.
Vardan Oskanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov first held a meeting in the
presence of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, the ministers then
continued the talks one to one.
“The principles of and approaches to the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict that are on the negotiating table were discussed at the
meeting,” the press service of the Armenian Foreign Ministry noted.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigoriy Karasin, US Assistant
Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried,
and French Foreign Ministry political director Stanislas de Laboulaye
are expected to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan on 24-25 May, accompanied
by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen.