KREMLIN NOT EXPECTS BREAKTHROUGH ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH ISSUE, BUT HOPES TO STRENGTHEN DIALOGUE BETWEEN COUNTRIES: PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT

Today.Az

June 4 2009
Azerbaijan

The Kremlin does not expect a significant breakthrough in the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement after a trilateral meeting between
the Presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia Dmitry Medvedev,
Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan, to be held in St. Petersburg today,
but expects to use this opportunity to enhance a direct dialogue
between the interested parties, Assistant Head of Russia Sergei
Prikhodko said, ITAR-TASS reported.

"First, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents will meet on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, and this will be the fifth
round of the direct negotiations, started on June 6, 2008, in the days
of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum," he said. "Then
President Medvedev will hold separate meetings with Ilham Aliyev and
Serzh Sargsyan, and in the evening, the Russian president has invited
his counterparts to hold a trilateral meeting," Prikhodko said,
adding that it will be in the format of a business dinner.

"Of course, the other issues will include the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict settlement, where Russia is seeking to play a positive
role," the Russian president’s assistant said. "But we do not set
a supreme task to reach a new agreement or deepen the discussion of
the details of this process," he said. "We aim to support the format
of the direct communication of Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
the dialogue which is held between them at the moment," he said.

Speaking about the agenda of Medvedev’s separate meeting with
Aliyev, Prikhodko stressed that the leaders will exchange views
on ways of maintaining high rates of economic cooperation between
Russia and Azerbaijan in the global economic crisis. "They also will
examine bilateral cooperation in energy, including the prospects of
implementing joint energy projects," Prikhodko said. He called the
Caspian issue among other topical issues.

Topic of Medvedev’s meeting with Sargsyan also includes, above all,
the issues of further development of trade and economic cooperation,
including in overcoming the consequences of the global financial
crisis, Assistant to the President said. "Implementation of projects
of the Russian leading corporations, such as Gazprom, Russian Railways
and Russian Aluminum in Armenia is expected to mitigate its negative
impact on bilateral economic relations," Prikhodko said.

It is expected that the heads of states will discuss the situation
in the Caucasus region, besides the topical issues of the bilateral
relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.

Previous trilateral meeting between Medvedev, Aliyev and Sargyan,
which was held in November 2008 ended with the signing of the
Declaration of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, which reaffirmed the
focus on achieving a political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict on the basis of international law, supported the mediation
efforts of OSCE Minsk Group and the agreement of Azerbaijani and
Armenian presidents to intensify the negotiating process. Russia’s
basic position in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is not to impose on
parties to the conflict any prescriptions from outside, and regarding
this the primary responsibility for the final choice should rest with
the Azerbaijanis and Armenians themselves. At the same time Russia is
prepared to support a solution to the problem, which satisfies all
parties involved, but it will be the guarantor of the settlement,
if a compromise agreement is not reached.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress