NO MEETING BETWEEN ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENTS WILL BE HELD UNTIL MAY 12, BERNARD FASSIER DECLARES

Noyan Tapan
Mar 12 2007

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, NOYAN TAPAN. "All conditions necessary for holding
a meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers have
been created and if the sides manifest will, the meeting will be
successful." OSCE Minsk Group French Co-chairman Bernard Fassier
declared this at the March 12 press conference. He reported that
after his visit to the region, the final point of which was Yerevan,
he will leave for Geneva where he will meet with his colleagues of
OSCE Minsk Group to discuss the details of the meeting between the
two countries’ Ministers. In his words, the idea to organize such
a meeting occured to OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs after "the climate
around the negotiations changed a little" lately. B. Fassier said
that one of the most important goals of his current visit to the
region was preparation for the meeting in Geneva.

"I mean not new or some magical proposals. Proposals on the
negotiations table require hard work." The French diplomat
estimated meetings held both in Baku and Yerevan as constructive
and useful. B. Fassier stated that no meeting between Armenian and
Azerbaijani Presidents will be held until May 12, i.e., until the
parliamentary elections, as the preelectoral process "is not the best
time for this." Meanwhile, he added that in that case the activities
on negotiations will continue, too.