G8 NATIONS COULD ADOPT STATEMENT ON KARABAKH CONFLICT

RIA Novosti
July 9, 2009
L’AQUILA

Russia could adopt a joint statement with two other Group of Eight
members at the ongoing summit in Italy on a long-running territorial
dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia, a Kremlin aide said.

Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, has been a source of conflict between the countries since
it declared its independence in 1991. The province has its own de
facto government.

Arkady Dvorkovich, an aide to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, told
reporters after the first day of the summit in the Italian mountain
town of L’Aquila: "Consultations are being held on Nagorny Karabakh
on the form of a declaration, and essentially, we agree on the issue."

"We expect that such a declaration could be produced. But it is
more likely to be a statement from three countries – Russia, France,
and the United States – than from the G8," he said.

A war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the mountainous enclave
15 years ago left over 25,000 people dead. Sporadic violence on the
border has continued ever since.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan met in Prague last month to discuss the conflict, on the
sidelines of the EU’s Eastern Partnership summit, and said some
progress had been reached.