Azerbaijan, Armenia to continue contacts over Karabakh issue

ITAR-TASS News Agency, Russia
January 23, 2007 Tuesday

The Foreign Ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia will continue close
contacts over the Nagorno Karabakh settlement, the Armenian Foreign
Ministry said in an official statement after a meeting between the
top diplomats of the two countries in Moscow.

The talks took place in the Russian capital on Tuesday, under the
aegis of the OSCE Minsk group.

"The parties discussed the principles of the Nagorno Karabakh
settlement and the details of the plans of a peaceful settlement
of the conflict, proposed by international mediators," according to
Armenian diplomats.

"The talks passed in a constructive atmosphere, and the parties decided
to continue close contacts at the level of the foreign ministries of
the two countries," they added.

Head of the international department of Armenia’s National Assembly
Vooruzhan Nersesian said "the parties have failed to arrive at specific
results; although firm groundwork has been prepared for continuing
talks within the framework of the upcoming visit by the OSCE group
to Baku, Yerevan and Stepanakert."

Armenia views "the talks in Moscow as a positive follow-up of
the Prague process," he said, noting detailed discussion of the
OSCE-proposed plans to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

"The OSCE Minsk group begins a visit to Baku on Wednesday; we are
pinning big hopes on results of this trip," Nersesian said.

"The Armenian delegation is going back to Yerevan pleased with the
results of the Moscow meeting," he underlined.