LEADERS DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT

United Press International UPI
November 7, 2008 Friday 7:22 PM EST

The Minsk Group says recent talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan have
produced positive signs of progress over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh
region.

The Minsk Group, created by the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, says it now has cautious optimism after a recent
meeting in Moscow between officials from Armenia and Azerbaijan that
addressed the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Armenia and Azerbaijan engaged in full-scale war over the
semiautonomous Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan during the early
1990s. Despite a cease-fire agreement reached in 1994, the situation
over Nagorno-Karabakh remains tense.

Azerbaijan’s growing wealth from oil profits and a growing
investment in the country’s defense sector have prompted concerns
from the International Crisis Group about renewed violence. However,
Russia’s recent conflict with Georgia has given caution to Armenia
and Azerbaijan over trade and supply routes that run through Georgia.

Officials say the meeting in Moscow with top officials from Russia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan built up optimism about the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process.

"There are personal factors and objective factors in the
region that give reasons for some cautious optimism or realistic
optimism," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said
in a statement.