ITAR-TASS, Russia
May 30 2008

Direct talks are only way to resolve Karabakh problem – Lavrov

30.05.2008, 19.39

MOSCOW, May 30 (Itar-Tass) — The upcoming meeting of the Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents in St. Petersburg will give guidelines for
further Karabakh settlement efforts of the two foreign ministries,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the Friday meeting with
his Armenian counterpart Eduard Nalbandian.

`The presidents will meet in St. Petersburg this June. The meeting
will give guidelines to the two foreign ministers supported by the
Minsk Group,’ he said.

`It is possible to reach agreement only in direct negotiations, yet
both sides laud [the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group] cochairmen,’
he said.

`We hope that the presidents’ meeting [of June 6] will spur on
negotiations. We also hope that the Azerbaijani side will continue the
negotiations on the basis of the Minsk Group proposals. We wait for
Azerbaijani proposals, which may help resolve the Karabakh conflict,’
Nalbandian said.

`Proposals of Russia, the United States and France [that cochair the
Minsk Group] must not be ignored,’ he remarked.