Source: Arminfo, Yerevan, in Russian
14 Sep 06
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER READY FOR MEETING WITH AZERI COUNTERPART
Yerevan, 14 September: "The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group are
seriously discussing the next meeting between the Armenian and
Azerbaijani foreign ministers, but our position is clear – the
meetings should not turn into an end in itself," Armenian Foreign
Minister Vardan Oskanyan said while answering journalists’ questions
after the presentation of a book entitled "The Nagornyy Karabakh
problem – ways of settlement".
"We are ready for the meeting at any time, but there is a need for a
favourable atmosphere in order to make progress. Azerbaijan keeps
making efforts to divert the international community’s attention from
the Minsk Group process. This is a fact," the Armenian foreign
minister said.
"As is known, the United Nations, which earlier refused to put the
GUAM-initiated [Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova] issue of
frozen conflicts on its agenda, changed its decision literally
yesterday. The issue was put on the agenda with a majority of votes.
This is the situation when an attempt is made to divert attention
from the Minsk Group process," the Armenian foreign minister said,
adding that the meeting between the foreign ministers will be in
question until it is clear in which direction the process develops at
the UN.
According to the minister, although Azerbaijan earlier accepted most
of the provisions of the document proposed by the Minsk Group,
including the referendum, self-determination and others, it is now
trying to "back off". As a means of achieving this goal, Azerbaijan
has chosen, according to its own calculations, attempts to divert
attention from the Minsk Group process and refer the issue to the UN.
So it is necessary to assess the current situation and only after
that, can we determine our further steps, the Armenian foreign
minister said. The minister also expressed the opinion that according
to the results of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict settlement, there is
no need to change the strategy at the moment.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
