SUCCESSFUL END OF ST. PETERSBURG MEETING COULD MINIMIZE DIFFERENCES ON BASIC PRINCIPLES: US DIPLOMAT

TREND News Agency, Azerbaijan
June 1 2007

Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend A.Gasimova / Matthew Bryza, the
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and also OSCE Minsk Group
co-chair informed the Associated Press that "If the St. Petersburg
meeting is successful, then the number of differences remaining on
basic principles could be reduced to close to zero."

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Armenian President Robert
Kocharian are expected to focus on the most pressing points during
talks in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 9 June.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, observing the Armenian-Azerbaijani
talks on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, US Ambassador
Yuriy Merzlyakov and French Ambassador Bernard Fassier do not hide
their optimism in connection with forthcoming talks between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in St. Petersburg on 9 June.

The meeting will be held during the informal summit of the CIS head
of state.

After more than a decade of efforts by international mediators to
break a deal on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents are close to resolving the remaining obstacles
to an agreement on basic principles, according to Bryza.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have made substantial progress toward the
settlement on control of a disputed territory, the U.S chief.

mediator in the talks stated. The leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan
should be praised for their courage in trying to bring stability and
prosperity to their peoples," he said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 due
to the territorial claims by Armenia against Azerbaijan. Armenia has
occupied 20% of the Azerbaijani land including the Nagorno-Karabakh
region and seven Districts of the country surrounding it. Since
1992 to the present time, these territories have been under the
occupation of the Armenian Forces. In 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia
signed a ceasefire agreement at which time the active hostilities
ended. The Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ( Russia, France and USA)
are presently holding peaceful negotiations.