ROBERT KOCHARIAN WELCOMES OFFER ON MEETING WITH AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT ALIYEV IN SAINT PETERSBURG

Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan
May 24 2007

"Armenian President Robert Kocharian agreed to meet with Azeri
President Ilham Aliyev in Saint Petersburg, and we hope Baku will
also give provide his consent," OSCE Minsk Group Russian Co-Chair
Yuri Merzlyakov stated to journalists in Yerevan, PanArmenianNet
reports. The mediator said a working document on basic principles of
the settlement has been worked out, which offers certain progress.

"If we orient ourselves to the result and suppose that the meeting
between both presidents is successful, in other words, the working
document is accepted as a basis for working out an agreement, it will
not be excluded to only one more meeting at the high level," Merzlyakov
underlined. The Russian mediator noted if the basic principles are
approved by both presidents, the Co-Chairs will begin to work on the
final agreement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

"We shall not visit Nagorno Karabakh this time, we shall visit
there in a week, when American Co-Chair Matthew Bryza joins us,"
Yuri Merzlyakov underscored.

The OSCE Minsk Group Chairs from France and Russia have been visiting
Armenia from 23 May as part of a tour of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
region. During the visit they held meetings with the President of
Armenia, Robert Kocharian, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian and the
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.

On 24 May the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs will leave for Baku.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress