U.S. BELIEVES YEREVAN, BAKU COULD SETTLE N. KARABAKH PROBLEM IN 2006

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS General Newswire
June 6, 2006 Tuesday 9:49 PM MSK

The U.S. believes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could be settled in
2006 and urges the Azeri and Armenian presidents to increase efforts
toward this end, Matthew Bryza, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of
state for European and Eurasian affairs, told journalists in Baku
on Tuesday.

Bryza said an encouraging draft agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh was on
the table now and that the U.S. believed a consensus was possible.

Bryza confirmed that a meeting between the Azeri and Armenian
presidents in Bucharest on Monday failed to produce the desired
results.

Bryza said more consultations were expected with Ambassador Steven
Mann, the U.S. co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, after the latter
completes the discussion of further ways to settle the conflict with
his Russian and French counterparts.

The U.S. diplomat pointed out that the internal political situation in
Armenia would be more complicated in 2007, and therefore the current
year is viewed as more favorable for achieving an agreement.

Armenia will hold parliamentary elections in 2007 and presidential
elections in 2008.