Merzlyakov: No Framework Agreement on Karabakh Bargaining Table

PanARMENIAN.Net
11.07.2006 17:30 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is still no framework agreement at peaceful
negotiations on the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
reportedly said Yuri Merzlyakov, the Russian co-chairman of OSCE
Minsk Group. Merzlyakov said mediators have offered the parties to
coordinate the problem settlement principles prior to developing
the agreement on their basis. Besides, co-chairmen do not use in
negotiation process such terms as "stage-by-stage", "package",
"universal" and so on, Merzlyakov remarked.

The further state of the negotiation process, the Russian diplomat
went on, will get defined after the first regional visit of Matthew
Bryza as US co-chairman of OSCE Minsk Group. "At the moment I am just
not ready to state the situation. It will get clear when he comes
there and listens to the parties’ opinions", he added. Merzlyakov
added that Bryza’s visit to the region had been originally scheduled
to later July or early September.

Answering the question about the preparation to the next meeting
between foreign ministers or presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan,
Merzlyakov said: "The co-chairmen’s latest statement says the parties
shall put forward their initiatives. We are always alongside, we ill
always help. But in the coming months we are not going to undertake
anything," reports Trend.