LAVROV OBJECTS TO ANY DEADLINES IN KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
by Denis Dubrovin, Natalia Simorova

ITAR-TASS News Agency
December 5, 2006 Tuesday 01:20 PM EST

Promises to reach accord by a certain deadline hardly assist the
Karabakh settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
after the OSCE ministerial conference in Brussels on Tuesday.

The problem is being settled "by the sides with the assistance of
the Minsk Group cochairmen," he said. "This is a rather delicate
job, as the cochairmen proceed from the sides’ readiness to find a
solution. This job includes trustful and confidential meetings with
the sides at all levels."

"A statement in support of the existent settlement format, which is
acceptable for Armenia and Azerbaijan, was coordinated in Brussels.

It is important to send a political signal of support to the
negotiations, while, in my opinion, it would be counterproductive to
go into details and specify the rates of the process."

Support to settlement negotiations voiced at multilateral forums
"is a good example for others, including South Ossetia, the Dniester
region and Abkhazia," Lavrov said.