US MEDIATOR UPBEAT ON KARABAKH SETTLEMENT – ARMENIAN AGENCY
Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
Dec 25 2006
A senior US diplomat has described as important the decision of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to continue negotiations to resolve
the long-standing dispute over Nagornyy Karabakh.
Speaking to the Armenian Mediamax news agency, the US deputy assistant
secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, who is also
the US co-chairman for the OSCE Minsk Group, Matthew Bryza, said it
meant that "the window of opportunity that the OSCE mediators talked
about in 2006 is not yet shut".
"The co-chairs will continue to work with the two sides, even
as campaign season begins for the 2007 parliamentary elections
in Armenia," Bryza told Mediamax. "We will work together quietly,
but we hope to continue making progress on the details of the basic
principles that the two sides still need to agree upon."
Asked about the possibility of the Nagornyy Karabakh population being
involved in the talks, the US mediator said that it was important
for the populations of the region to play a role in finding ways to
co-exist peacefully with each other.
"I think it’s safe to say that representatives of the people of
Nagornyy Karabakh will need to be involved in this process as we get
closer to a comprehensive peace agreement," he said.
The USA is closely involved in the resolution of conflicts in Georgia
and Moldova as well, Bryza noted.
"The sad fact is that we are not seeing progress in the resolution
of those conflicts like we’re seeing in the Minsk Group process for
Nagornyy Karabakh," Bryza said.
From: Baghdasarian