Armenian Public TV , Armenia
June 6 2008

Armenian, Azeri ministers upbeat on continuing Karabakh talks

[Presenter] President Serzh Sargsyan is in Russia’s northern capital
on a working visit; he is participating in an informal summit of the
CIS leaders and the 12th International Economic Forum in St
Petersburg. A meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents
[Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev] was held in St Petersburg. The
Russian, US and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the personal
representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office [Andrzej Kasprzyk], as
well as the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers described the
meeting as constructive.

[Correspondent] The Armenian-Azerbaijani talks on Artsakh [Nagornyy
Karabakh] on the presidential level resumed in the place where the
last meeting in this format was held a year ago. The St Petersburg
meeting was held at the Baltiyskaya Zvezda Hotel early this morning.

[Passage omitted: The Azerbaijani and the Armenian presidents arrived
at the meeting]

The eye-to-eye meeting between Sargsyan and Aliyev lasted over an
hour. First, the talks were held with the participation of the foreign
ministers and the Minsk Group co-chairs as the protocol
requires. About half an hour later, the OSCE co-chairs and Andrzej
Kasprzyk left the room leaving the presidents to continue their talks
eye to eye. The first meeting between Sargsyan and Aliyev is
important, the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group says.

[The OSCE Minsk Group’s US co-chair Matthew Bryza, addressing
journalists in Russian] I felt during our short conversation with the
presidents that yes, it is true, it was a successful familiarizing
meeting. The mood was fine and this major work can be continued within
the framework of the Minsk Group and our proposals. I would like to
stress that these are simply proposals that are on the table and they
should be improved in the context of both sides’ will.

[Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan, addressing journalists,
in Russian] We are not talking about starting from scratch. As it was
said before – and my counterpart agreed with that – there are
proposals made by the Minsk Group co-chairs. We will be working on
those proposals, we presented our views and approaches, our comments –
both the Azerbaijani side and the Armenian side – and we will be
working on bringing the sides’ positions closer.

[Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, standing next to
Nalbandyan, addressing journalists, in Russian] I can add that there
were voiced wishes for the co-chairs to continue working. The foreign
ministers should continue discussions on their level for agreeing the
approaches. In addition, a co-chair has accepted the offer to visit
the region, probably in late June, the timing is under discussion now
in accordance to the presidents’ and foreign ministers’ schedules. As
per today, as my counterpart said, after we familiarize ourselves with
each others’ approaches, we will have to think on bringing the
positions closer.