KARABAKH CONFLICT SHOULD BE SOLVED BILATERALLY – DEFENSE MINISTER

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 31 2006

BAKU, May 31 (RIA Novosti) – A long-running dispute between Armenia
and Azerbaijan over the Nagorny Karabakh region should be resolved
by the two countries themselves and not by third parties, Russia’s
defense minister said Wednesday.

Speaking at a news conference in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, Sergei
Ivanov said: “Any settlement scheme imposed from the outside could
in my opinion be not only counterproductive, but also very dangerous.”

He said international mediators should not try to impose a solution
on Armenia and Azerbaijan, but should facilitate the implementation
of any agreement the sides may reach over Karabakh bilaterally.

Ivanov also said peacekeepers could be deployed in the zone of the
conflict, which claimed 30,000 lives on both sides between 1988 and
1994 after the Azerbaijani region with a largely Armenian population
proclaimed independence from Azerbaijan in a bid to join Armenia.

“I do not rule out the possibility of peacekeepers appearing in
the Karabakh conflict zone in the foreseeable future to enforce all
political agreements that will be reached sooner or later,” he said.

The Russian minister’s remarks came a day after Armenia and Azerbaijan
both claimed fatalities following a shootout between soldiers on the
border near Nagorny Karabakh and accused each other of breaching a
1994 ceasefire agreement.

More than 100 people have been killed in the region since the ceasefire
was brokered.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress