YEREVAN COULD SIGN DEAL ON KARABAKH WITH BAKU BEFORE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS – MINISTER

Russia & CIS General Newswire
December 18, 2007 Tuesday 9:56 PM MSK

Armenia could sign a framework agreement with Azerbaijan on principles
of settling the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh before the presidential
elections in Armenia, said Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian.

Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan on Tuesday, Oskanian said
that Armenia was not planning to withdraw from the negotiations on
Nagorno-Karabakh. "Armenia will continue the negotiating process in
the near future. There are documents on the negotiating table that
we are examining," he said.

Commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s remark to
the effect that a framework agreement on Nagorno-Karabakh could
be signed before the presidential elections, Oskanian said, "Our
desire is to reach a consensus on this two and half page document on
settlement principles. The sooner we come to it the sooner we will
start discussing details," he said.

"After that, we could start working on a 20-30 page or maybe even a
50-page agreement," he said.

The co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group made ten written proposals
on settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Madrid in late November.

The presidential elections in Armenia are scheduled for February
19, 2008.