THE YEAR ENDS IN AN OPTIMISTIC MOOD: OSCE MINSK GROUP MEDIATORS
TREND, Azerbaijan
Nov 22 2006
The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair, Russian Ambassador Yuriy Merzlyakov,
stated in Yerevan on 22 November that the meeting of mediators and
the President and Foreign Minister of Armenia was effective, Trend
reports citing Mediamax News Agency.
During his interview with journalists at Zvartnots Airport prior to
his flight to Baku, Mezlyakov stated that Armenia gave its approval
to conduct a meeting with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Minsk on 28 November 2006 within the framework of the CIS Summit.
Merzlyakov said the mediators are awaiting approval from the
Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev in Baku, although earlier the
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister made a statement confirming the same.
Merzlyakov said that the absence of the U.S. Ambassador, Matthew Bryza,
at the mission which is currently touring the conflict region was
linked with the agreement between the co-chairs on the distribution
of duties and he is going to meet with Arkadiy Gukasian [leader of
Karabakh Armenians], who is currently on a visit to the United States.
"In general the year is ending optimistically and if we succeed in
maintaining this attitude we will meet 2007 with a positive outlook.
Nevertheless, the elections have a deterrent impact on the negotiations
and we presume the achievements that we have had this year will
enable the pre-election period to pass easily, the Russian Ambassador
emphasized.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
