Interfax News Agency, Russia
May 7 2008

AZERBAIJAN WANTS PEACE TALKS ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH TO CONTINUE

Azerbaijan believes peace negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement should continue, Azeri presidential chief of staff Ramiz
Mehtiyev said.

"We believe these negotiations should be continued," Mehtiyev told
journalists on Wednesday.

"We should try to resolve this problem in a peaceful way and ensure
the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity," he said.

A meeting between the Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers, Elmar
Mammadyarov and Edvard Nalbandian, respectively, took place in
Strasbourg yesterday.

The meeting was attended by OSCE (Organization for Cooperation and
Security in Europe) Minsk Group Bernard Fasier (France), Matthew Bryza
(U.S.) and Yury Merzlyakov (Russia), as well as OSCE Chairman-in-
office’s personal representative Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Azeri foreign
minister’s spokesperson told Interfax-Azerbaijan.

Because the newly appointed Armenian foreign minister attended for the
first time, it was an introductory meeting, the Foreign Ministry said.

Mammadyarov said the parties had a constructive meeting during which
they held consultations concerning the arrangements for the next
meeting between the Azeri and Armenian presidents. There are several
possible ways of organizing such a meeting, the Azeri minister said.

"The meeting [between the presidents on the sidelines of the Economic
Forum in St. Petersburg] could be held in June this year. We will let
our presidents know the results of our meeting, and they will make the
decision about the meeting at their level," Mammadyarov said.

Based on the presidents’ decision the ministers can meet once again,
he said. "There is an opportunity and a desire to resolve the issue
and to find ways to deal with the problem," Mammadyarov said.

"There is a desire and opportunities to continue talks. We are
neighbors, we cannot just run off in different directions. We need to
find a solution and to resolve the situation," he said.