SERGEY LAVROV: KARABAKH PROBLEM IS NOT AN EASY ONE, BUT ALL PARTIES SEEK FOR FINDING SOLUTION

PanARMENIAN.Net
28.01.2010 18:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in London on the sidelines
of the International Conference on Afghanistan.

"We dwelled on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, particularly
considering that Russia and United states are Co-Chairs of OSCE Minsk
Group together with France," Russia’s top diplomat said, summing up
the results of the meeting.

"We shared our assessments on the outcome of Armenian, Russian and
Azerbaijani Presidents’ recent meeting in Sochi. The problem is
not an easy one, but all parties seek for finding some solution,"
Mr. Lavrov added.

Present at the conference is also Armenian FM Edward Nalbandyan.

However, he is not scheduled to meet with Turkish and Azerbaijani FMs
or U.S. Secretary of State, according RA MFA Spokesman Tigran Balayan.

Upon the end of their January 25 meeting in Sochi, Armenian and Azeri
leaders agreed upon a preamble to a document on the basic principles
of settling the conflict. The parties are expected to prepare their
ideas and formulations on disputable issues by the next round of talks.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, Nagorno
Karabakh and Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions
of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control
of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks
mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.