AZERI, ARMENIAN MINISTERS TO MEET IN MOSCOW ON 6 OCTOBER – RUSSIAN MEDIATOR

Mediamax news agency, Yerevan,
3 Oct 06

Yerevan, 3 October: The Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers
are expected to meet in Moscow on 6 October, the Russian co-chairman
of the OSCE Minsk Group, Yuriy Merzlyakov, said in Yerevan today.

Addressing a news conference on the results of the mediators’
negotiations with the Armenian leadership, Merzlyakov said that the
main purpose of the co-chairmen’s visit to the region "was to achieve
a resumption of direct contacts between the two sides and we have
achieved this target".

The Russian mediator said it cannot be ruled out that the Armenian
and Azerbaijani ministers may meet again in mid-October following
the meeting in Moscow on 6 October.

"We hope that the meetings of the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign
ministers will give the two countries’ presidents a chance to meet,"
the French co-chairmen of the Minsk Group, Bernard Fassier, said.

"We are often asked if we are upbeat or downbeat. We prefer avoiding
this direct question and say that any small opportunity to achieve
a breakthrough should be taken," the French diplomat said.

US co-chairman Matthew Bryza said that "more vigour and more creative
approaches" should be employed in the negotiations.

"We are not saying that we are on the threshold of a major breakthrough
in the talks and that all difficult issues have been overcome. At
the same time, during this visit we saw both parties standing ready
to seek ways of moving ahead," Bryza said.

The US mediator said that the main factor slowing down the process
of reaching agreement is the lack of confidence between the parties.