RUSSIA READY TO ASSIST NAGORNO-KARABAKH TALKS – GRYZLOV

Interfax News Agency
May 14 2008
Russia

Russia is ready to assist the Nagorno- Karabakh settlement talks,
State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said.

"We can guarantee reached agreements. There should be no imposition
from outside: the parties should agree with each other," Gryzlov told
a briefing in Baku.

Russia could provide a ground for Azeri-Armenian talks, in particular
for a St. Petersburg meeting between Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev
and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the speaker said.

"We, as co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group [for the Nagorno- Karabakh
settlement], will guarantee the decisions that the parties will reach,"
Gryzlov said.