Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Oct 23 2008

Russian envoy upbeat on proposed Karabakh talks in Moscow

The August hostilities between Russia and Georgia have become a
convincing reason for finding a solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh
problem, Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan Vasiliy Istratov told a news
conference on 23 October, Turan news agency reported.

The parties to the conflict, i.e. Azerbaijan and Armenia, have been
given a new impetus to reach an agreement, for the problem will not be
resolved on its own, Istratov said, commenting on Russian President
Dmitriy Medvedev’s proposal to hold a meeting between the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents in Moscow in early November.

The ambassador also said that he was not aware of the proposal to
deploy Russian peacekeepers in Nagornyy Karabakh and added that the
OSCE Minsk Group remained the main format for the conflict resolution,
Turan reported.