RUSSIA’S PRESIDENT, IN YEREVAN, SEES QUICK ACTION ON KARABAKH
by Tatul Hakobyan

Armenian Reporter
October 25, 2008
Armenia

President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia plants a tree at the Armenian
Genocide Memorial complex in Yerevan on Oct. 22 during his official
visit. Photolure

Yerevan – President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia is looking forward
to a meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow,
he announced during an official visit to Armenia on October 20-21.

"I am hopeful that we are in the stage where progress is being made,"
he said in a joint press conference with President Serge Sargsian. "In
any case, the two sides are prepared to look for solutions. I will not
comment on the details of the negotiations because they are details of
negotiations and that is their value. I hope that in the near future
a meeting of three presidents takes place in the capital of Russia,"
he added.

A large part of the discussions between Mr. Sargsian and Mr. Medvedev
was dedicated to the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

"Armenia is prepared to continue the negotiations on the basis of
the Madrid principles," Mr. Sargsian said, referring to a proposal
presented to Armenia and Azerbaijan by high officials from the United
States, Russia, and France. "These are foundations, which make it
possible to recognize Karabakh’s right to self-determination and some
other issues that are matters of principle for us," Mr. Sargsian added.

Moscow-Baku talks After leaving Armenia, Russia’s president spoke
on October 22 to the president of Azerbaijan. Mr. Medvedev and
President Ilham Aliyev discussed preparations for a meeting of the
three presidents, Interfax reported.

Mr. Medvedev had visited Baku on July 3. During that visit, he
and Mr. Aliyev signed a Declaration on Friendship and Strategic
Partnership. In the declaration, Moscow and Baku emphasized "the
importance of speedily resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the
basis of widely accepted norms and principles of international law,
and first of all, maintaining and guaranteeing those of the sovereignty
of states, their territorial integrity, and the unchangeability of
their borders." The two presidents also pledged to promote military
cooperation (Russia last year sold tanks to Azerbaijan for the first
time since the mid-1990s) and to work against groups undermining the
sovereignty of each of the two countries (with both sides stepping
up attacks on Islamist groups in the border areas).

But when Mr. Aliyev returned Mr. Medvedev’s visit in September –
after the war in Georgia – Mr. Medvedev did not repeat the verbiage
about territorial integrity.

Madrid Principles At a meeting in Madrid in November 2007,
U.S. undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns, Russian foreign minister
Sergei Lavrov, and French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner presented
to the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan a document with
their proposals for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. The
three officials represent the three states that co-chair the OSCE
Minsk Group, which mediates the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

"It is the same document that has been on the table for about two
years," Vartan Oskanian, Armenia’s foreign minister at the time
said after the Madrid meeting. "In those matters where there was no
agreement, the co-chairs have added their own proposals to the sides,
for consideration. That is the only detail of that document. For that
reason it is important to be careful in one’s assessment, because
the level was high, and the expectations could also be high."

The substance of the earlier document referred to by Mr. Oskanian,
known as the Prague document, was made public in June 2006.

It was U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state Matthew Bryza, the
U.S. co-chair of the Minsk Group, who disclosed the main principles
of a framework peace accord. Under the principles, he said, Armenian
forces would leave those territories of Azerbaijan in which they are
now stationed; Armenia and Azerbaijan would normalize their economic
and diplomatic ties; peace-keepers would be stationed; there would
be international economic aid for Karabakh; and more. In the end, he
said, there would be a vote on the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Mr. Bryza said the proposed vote would take place "at some point"
in the future, after the liberation of Armenian-occupied lands in
Azerbaijan, the deployment of an international peacekeeping force in
the conflict zone, and the restoration of political and economic ties
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Official Yerevan responded quickly to the June 2006 disclosures,
saying they were partial.

The matter of a referendum and that of handing the Lachin corridor
and Kelbajar to Azerbaijan were the most contentious issues. As the
negotiations continued, the co-chairs offered their own proposals –
the Madrid Principles – for the resolution of the issues on which
Yerevan and Baku could not agree. Since Yerevan had accepted the
earlier document as a basis for negotiations and Baku had rejected
it, the assumption was that the Madrid principles were more favorable
to Azerbaijan.

On October 7, speaking to the Russian daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta,
Mr. Lavrov, the foreign minister, said, "There remain two or three
unresolved issues which need to be agreed upon at the next meetings of
the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan," Mr. Lavrov told the Russian
newspaper. "The first among them is the Lachin corridor," he added.

Working toward a settlement Mr. Bryza lately told the BBC, "The
resolution of the Karabakh conflict must start with the principle of
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. Other complementary principles
can then be incorporated."

He added, "We must say that yes, from a legal perspective, by law,
Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan. But, after all, so that
the negotiations result in an agreement, Armenia too must agree to
it. We know that Armenia has a different position, and we must use
very creative, constructive approaches so that Armenia and Azerbaijan
find a common language."

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, in Yerevan on October
18, in response to a question from the Armenian Reporter’s Armen
Hakobyan, clarified current U.S. policy: "Territorial integrity
is a recognized principle of international law. There are other
principles, such as self-determination. Now we all know what we’re
talking about here. Bringing these principles together, reconciling
these principles is extremely difficult and complicated." He added
that the Minsk Group continues to work "to actually find a settlement."

Mr. Fried gave no indication, however, that a settlement is imminent.