ELMAR MAMMADIAROV. "AT KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV MEETING MAIN PRINCIPLES WERE
DISCUSSED, ON BASIS OF WHICH WE ARE GOING TO COME TO AGREEMENT ON
ESTABLISHING LONG-LASTING PEACE"

SAINT PETERSBURG, JUNE 11, NOYAN TAPAN. No progress was recorded at the
meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Robert Kocharian
and Ilham Aliyev, that took place in Saint Petersburg on June 9 in the
evening. Neither the Presidents, nor the Co-chairmen of OSCE Minsk
Group made an annoncement for the press after the meeting.

As informs the Radio Liberty reported, quotting the "reliable source",
during the meeting, that lasted more than three hours, the Presidents
did not manage to come to an agreement on several important issues, the
most important of which is the one of Karabakh status. The Azerbaijani
side insisted that there should not be any point on the Karabakh status
in the intermediate agreement, and the Armenian side insisted that the
mechanism, by which the referendum in Nagorno Karabakh will be held,
and the way the Karabakh status will be decided, should be mentioned in
it without fail.

Elmar Mammadiarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, according
to the Azerbaijani media, reported only that "the main principles, on
the basis of which we are going to come to an agreement on establishing
long-lasting peace in the region, were discussed."