Russia & CIS General Newswire
October 25, 2007 Thursday 7:24 PM MSK

OSCE Minsk group co-chairmen launch shuttle diplomacy – minister

Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has recognized the
intensification of the efforts by the OSCE Minsk group of mediators
in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh dispute.

"The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk group are involved in active
shuttle diplomacy in the settlement zone trying to bring the sides
closer to each other," Oskanian told a news conference in Yerevan on
Thursday.

He said that the current visit of international mediators to the
region assumed new features given the upcoming presidential elections
in Armenia and Azerbaijan that do not leave a chance for the meetings
of the leaders of the two countries.

Oskanian said that the Minsk group co-chairmen will return from Baku
to Yerevan on Saturday.

He described the first stage of meetings in Yerevan as good and
marked by positive trends. Oskanian said there are many settled and
unsettled issues on the negotiating table of the mediator mission.
"We are waiting for news from the co-chairmen in Baku and hope that
their shuttle diplomacy will produce certain results," he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress