Interfax, Russia
May 29 2009

Karabakh mediators expect progress from next Armenian-Azeri meeting

Baku, 29 May: The co-chairmen of the OSCE (Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe) Minsk Group hope significant progress will
be reached in the Karabakh settlement process at the upcoming talks
between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan in St Petersburg on 4 June.

"The goal of our visit is to continue preparations for the presidents’
meeting in St Petersburg on 4 June," French co-chairman Bernard
Fassier told journalists in Baku. Fassier said he was attaching
particular importance to the St Petersburg meeting.

"One should understand that the St Petersburg meeting will be this
year’s fifth, which already means something. There is some
progress. Not everything is being solved in one meeting," the diplomat
said.

The two countries’ leaders acted constructively, said US co-chairman
Matthew Bryza, commenting on the recent meeting between the
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Prague [on 7 May].

The presidents took the negotiations very seriously, he said.

>From the diplomatic point of view, the Azerbaijani president is
waging a cultural war, and we hope to see a turning point in St
Petersburg, Bryza said. As for Novruz Mammadov, head of foreign
relations in the Azeri presidential administration, who said that no
progress was reached in Prague, this person did not attend the Prague
meeting, plus he is allowed to have his own opinion, Bryza said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress