WPS Agency, Russia
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
March 13, 2009 Friday

RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER WILL DISCUSS NAGORNO-KARABAKH IN AZERBAIJAN

MOSCOW AGREEMENT ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH SETTLEMENT FAILED TO PUT AN END
TO CASUALTIES IN CONFLICT AREA; Foreign Minister Lavrov goes to Baku
to discuss Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and the future Caspian summit.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will discuss Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Foreign
Minister Elmar Mamedjarov.

"Nagorno-Karabakh settlement will be discussed. Signing the
declaration in Moscow on November 2, 2008, by the presidents of
Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia opened new opportunities," Andrei
Nesterenko of the Russian Foreign Ministry said. According to the
diplomat, Russia welcomes a continuation of the intensive talks and
will facilitate settlement as a chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"Our principal position remains unchanged. We believe that
responsibility for the choice of the formula of settlement rests with
the Azerbaijanis and Armenians themselves," Panorama.ru quoted
Nesterenko as saying.

Attention will also be paid to the "Caspian affairs within the
framework of preparations for the Third Caspian Summit." "We expect to
make some progress in reaching better mutual understanding with the
Azerbaijani partners in the matter of the legal status of the Caspian
Sea and establishment of an international mechanism of security and
Caspian Economic Cooperation Organization," Nesterenko said.

OSCE Minsk Group chairmen Matthew Bryza (United States), Yuri
Merzlyakov (Russia), and Bernard Fassier (France) visited Baku on
February 26. They met with Mamedjarov and Aliyev.

The chairmen set out for Yerevan the following day and departed it for
Stepanakert where they met with the president of Nagorno-Karabakh and
other officials.

OSCE Minsk Group chairmen urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to abandon
aggressive rhetorics and said the meeting of the presidents of Russia,
Armenia, and Azerbaijan in Moscow had provided grounds for optimism.

Casualties are still reported in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
area. At least 15 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh were killed in 2008
and as many were wounded. The Azerbaijanis lost at least 12 men with 3
wounded.

Source: Kavkazsky Uzel, March 11, 2009

Translated by Aleksei Ignatkin