Interfax News Agency, Russia
March 15 2008

Moscow views UN resolution on N. Karabakh as serving only
Azerbaijan’s interests

MOSCOW

Moscow views the resolution of the UN General Assembly on the
situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan passed on Friday
as a move that serves only the interests of Baku.

"The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen mediating in the settlement of the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict voted against this document. In a joint
statement explaining the motives for this voting, they qualified this
step on the part of Azerbaijan as one-sided, untimely, and counter-
productive. It has been informed about this position repeatedly and
at different levels," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a
statement on Saturday.

"In particular, the draft resolution includes only some of the basic
settlement principles meeting only Azerbaijan’s interests, without
mentioning, for example, the ultimate need to determine Nagorno-
Karabakh’s status through holding a plebiscite for its population so
that it could express its will truly freely," it said.

"This approach has made the draft resolution unacceptable to Armenia
and worsened prospects for the soonest possible resumption of
top-level Armenian-Azeri talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement
following the inauguration of the new Armenian president," it said.

"Russia, together with the U.S. and France, are willing to continue
the Minsk Group co-chairmen’s active mediation to complete the
coordination of the basic settlement principles, which would make it
possible to return stability and calm to that region of the South
Caucasus," it said.

It was reported earlier that the delegates to the 62nd UN General
Assembly session passed a resolution proposed by Azerbaijan on the
situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan by 39 votes, with
seven votes against and 100 abstentions on Friday.