Interfax, Russia
Jan 22 2010

Yerevan thanks Moscow for contribution to Nagorno-Karabakh process

YEREVAN Jan 22

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has thanked the Russian
authorities for their efforts to help settle the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We are grateful to Russia and President Dmitry Medvedev for their
efforts aimed at resolving the Karabakh conflict," Nalbandian told a
news conference on Friday.

The Armenian minister said he hoped that the parties concerned would
be able to build upon positive achievements that were secured in the
settlement process last year.

"Further meetings would be impossible without this progress.

However, these positive achievements proved insufficient last year to
reach a breakthrough in the conflict settlement process," he said.

"There is no point in speeding up the pace of these processes
artificially. We have not been holding negotiations for the sake of
negotiations," Nalbandian said.

The minister also blamed "anti-Armenian campaigns in Azerbaijan for
creating obstacles in the negotiating process."

The presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are expected to meet
in Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi on January 25.