US MEDIATOR OUTLINES ARMENIAN-AZERI CONFLICT SETTLEMENT PRINCIPLES
Turan news agency
2 Aug 07
Baku, 2 August: The Nagornyy Karabakh subject was one of the central
subjects during the current visit to Baku by Matthew Bryza, the US
deputy assistant state secretary for European and Eurasian affairs
and US co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Bryza said at a news conference at the US embassy that all efforts of
the co-chairmen and Minsk Group countries are aimed at enabling the
sides to sign an agreement on the principles of the Karabakh conflict
settlement before the presidential elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan.
He admitted that there are still some fundamental issues on which no
agreement has been reached. After the meeting of the two countries’
presidents in St Petersburg, there was an impression that the sides
want to reach an agreement, but then these hopes failed. "However,
no-one but the sides themselves can make important compromises,"
the diplomat said.
As for yesterday’s meeting in Moscow, this was a working meeting
between the co-chairmen and two Russian deputy foreign ministers. Bryza
called these consultations very important.
Asked by Turan news agency how a compromise can be made between
the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination,
Bryza said that this is something really difficult to do. At the
same time, the issue should be solved on the basis of Helsinki and UN
principles which envisage territorial integrity, non-use of force and
self-government. Self-government is not independence. "It is necessary
to find compromises within the framework of these principles, and
I think this is an attainable task and we are close to it. However,
we cannot make a decision instead of you. You yourselves must take
this step," Bryza said.