KARABAKH CONFLICT WILL BE SETTLED PEACEFULLY, WITHOUT CHANGING FORMAT – OSCE HEAD

Interfax News Agency, Russia
Russia & CIS
February 28, 2008

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s
Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said the
Karabakh conflict would be settled in compliance with international
law.

Strong support is available for resolving this problem, he said.

The conflicts will be definitely resolved on the basis of international
law, he said at a news conference after a visit to Baku.

Kanerva said he supported the Minsk process. This process should
be promoted, he said. All the parties concerned must realize that
diplomacy is the only way to settle this problem, the diplomat said.

The OSCE chairman said he opposed changing the format of the talks.

He also said that if several alternative options were proposed for
settling the problem he would recommend the one proposed by the OSCE’s
Minsk Group.

The world community backs the settlement within the framework of
the Minsk Group, he said. Ideas have been proposed to draw other
organizations to the process, including the UN, Kanerva said, but
added that even though he was not against the UN, he opposed this idea.

Regarding the role of the Armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh in
the talks, Kanerva said that this was not a matter of now. Perhaps
this will happen later. Not now, he said.