GRIGORY KARASIN: ANY STEP OUTSIDE MINSK GROUP FORMAT HARMS NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS
Noyan Tapan
March 20, 2008
YEREVAN, MARCH 20, NOYAN TAPAN. Russia is concerned with the events
that happened in early March on the contact-line of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. "Fortunately, they had a limited nature and were
suspended from both sides," Grigory Karasin, the RF Deputy Foreign
Minister, said in his March 20 interview to Armenian journalists. "We
wish the South Caucasus to be a zone of stability," he stated.
In his words, the process of Nagorno Karabakh settlement is advancing,
and it is very important that in difference to other conflicts, the
Armenian and Azeri leaders carry on negotiations, in which the world
community, in particular, the OSCE Minsk Group, takes an active part.
The Russian diplomat said that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs voted
against the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly lately,
and continue asserting that any step outside the Minsk Group format
harms the negotiations process.
Touching upon the previous day’s statement of the Armenian Foreign
Minister about Azerbaijan’s efforts to disorganize the Minsk Group,
G. Karasin said that Russia has certain information about it. However,
the Russian side considers that the current negotiations format meets
the interests of both Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the entire
world community on the whole.
He expressed the hope that the forthcoming meeting of the two
countries’ Presidents in Bucharest will be productive. "I am sure
that both sides have a potential for it," G. Karasin said.