OPINION OF MR. GHUKASYAN AND MR. OSKANYAN WAS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT

Lragir.am
08-06-2007 12:13:49

"We had very open, honest and constructive discussions, talked about
expressions of optimism or pessimism," stated the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs, more exactly Matthew Bryza who hosted the news conference
after the meeting with the leadership of Armenia on June 7, because
the news conference was held at the U.S. Embassy to Armenia. When
I talk about optimism it reflects my personality, he said. "I don’t
mean by any means that we anticipate some huge breakthrough in Saint
Petersburg on Saturday." Bryza says his optimism is based on the
continuous meetings with the presidents and the foreign ministers
all through the year.

Bryza said the differences are narrowing between the sides but the
differences are still there. Therefore, the co-chairs are visiting in
the region to prepare the meeting of the ministers in Saint Petersburg
on June 9.

In Baku and in Yerevan we discussed points which the co-chairs think
the presidents need to focus on, and if they agree, the mediators
think, it will allow going on, Merzlyakov said. How many, when, we
cannot say because it is beyond us to evaluate. However, there is
possibility for progress, there is possibility for agreement on the
basic principles, Yuri Merzlyakov says, and Bryza nods approvingly.

The French co-chair Bernard Fassier reminds the recent statement of the
foreign ministers of G8 on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. He
says the foreign ministers of G8 not only appreciated the work of the
OSCE Minsk Group but also described the proposals of the mediators
as sufficient to reach agreement on the basic principles. Fassier
says if the G8 agree that the proposals are satisfactory to reach for
agreement, it should be taken into consideration and they should work
towards it.

The second observation on what the co-chairs mean by a breakthrough:
the presidents of the two countries must be so confident of each
other and the balanced proposal on resolution as to feel confident
to propose to the foreign ministers together with experts to launch
drafting of the peace agreement, Bernard Fassier said.

In answer to the question what the co-chairs think that for Armenia
and Karabakh the status is primary Matthew Bryza said it is not a
surprise because the problem is the status in fact. Every side has its
primary issues, Matthew Bryza says. He says he is not surprised when
Arkady Ghukasyan and Vardan Oskanyan say the status is the primary
issue because it is the underlying problem. And in this process they
took into consideration that for these gentlemen and their publics
the status and security are primary, Bryza says.