Azerbaijan Business Center
July 18 2009

Armenia refuses to capitulate in Moscow

Baku, Fineko/abc.az. The Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents
(Dmitry Medvedev, Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan respectively) are to
meet in Moscow today in an attempt to obtain progress in 15-year
process of peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno
Garabagh conflict.

Yesterday the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders held a meeting with
involvement of their countries’ ministers of foreign affairs Elmar
Mammadyarov and Edvard Nalbandyan, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs

Mathew Braiza (United States), Yury Merzlyakov (Russia), and Bernard
Fasie (France), and personal representative of the OSCE
chairman-in-office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

Following negotiations Mr.Braiza emphasized that the meeting bore
quite deep character and was more concrete.

`I was disappointed to the certain extent with the fact that no new
decisions were made. I cannot say that everything is excellent.
Nevertheless, the negotiation process is underway and is at serious
stage,’ he said.

Mr. Braiza also pointed out that at any rate no regression was
observed compared to the previous meetings.

In his turn, Mr. Merzlyakov noted essential and noticeable
rapprochement in positions of the sides and launched discussion of
issues not covered before.

`Both we and Garabagh conflict countries’ presidents have an
impression that the final decision can be made following current
negotiations and that is why meetings at high-ranking level will be
continued. In August the conflict region will be visited by
Mr. Braiza, in early September by Mr. Fasie, and at the end of
September by all the MG co-chairs,’ Mr. Mezrlyakov stated.

Under such conditions today’s tripartite meeting becomes if not an
empty formality, but a routine `working moment’. A new meeting of
presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in October has been announced as
a result. of Dragging out of conflict settlement process is linked
with the desire of Armenia occupying 20% of Azerbaijani territory to
obtain for itself more profitable conditions of peace, as this country
is sure that until October pressure upon Azerbaijan is going to
strengthen to make it agree on the agreement on even knowingly
unprofitable conditions. Armenia expects pressure upon Azerbaijan even
from Azerbaijan’s key ally – Turkey.