International Herald Tribune, France
Nov 2 2008
Armenia, Azerbaijan agree to intensify talks
The Associated PressPublished: November 2, 2008
MOSCOW: The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed Sunday to
intensify talks to end a 20-year conflict over the disputed territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The pledge was made during discussions outside Moscow hosted by
Russia’s president that lasted less than three hours, according to a
joint statement.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces
since a six-year conflict that killed about 30,000 and displaced 1
million people before a truce was reached in 1994. Sporadic clashes
have continued.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed the talks last month and
they appear to reflect a renewed Kremlin effort to strengthen its
influence in the energy-rich Caspian region.
Presidents Serge Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan
agreed to instruct their foreign ministers "to speed up further moves
in the negotiating process," the declaration said.
The foreign ministers will work with Russia, the U.S. and France,
co-chairmen of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe, which has tried unsuccessfully to
negotiate a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
The U.S. also has promised recently to intensify its efforts to help
solve the conflict.
Washington and Moscow have both pointed to Georgia’s war with Russia
in August, saying it has underlined the need to settle other regional
conflicts through talks.
The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia met one-on-one before they
were joined by Medvedev for the talks, which took place at Medvedev’s
residence, Meiendorf Castle.
Aliyev and Sarkisian last met to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh in June
2007, also in Russia.