DEPARTMENT OF STATE IS NOT SURPRISED BY ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S ANNOUNCEMENT AND HOPES FOR CONTINUATION OF THE PROCESS

ArmInfo
2010-04-23 12:26:00 US

ArmInfo.I don’t think we’re surprised by the announcement by President
Sargsian’, – representative of US Department of State Philip Crowley
said during yesterday’s press briefing.

He also added: ‘We had intensive meetings with the Armenians and the
Turks here in Washington. We’ve had ongoing contacts with Azerbaijan
as well. And we understand that there’s – we had – that both sides
had reached a – I won’t say impasse, but kind of reached a hurdle
in the process regarding the ratification of the protocols. I think
we’re en aged that neither side has walked away from the process,
but I think we all recognize that we’ll just need some time to perhaps
create some new momentum that allows the process to move forward. So I
think this is something that the Armenians had hinted to us that they
were prepared to do, and so we’re not surprised by the announcement’.

‘Well, I think that we are actually encouraged that, both in the case
of Armenia and Turkey, both sides have taken pains to make sure the
process doesn’t collapse. That gives us some reason for optimism that
over the long term we can find ways to come back to it and try to
push forward the protocols again.That was our message to both Turkey
and Armenia during the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit: Keep
the process going; if you don’t think that this is the right time,
that’s fine, we’ll step back and reevaluate how to move forward. So
that’s why Phil Gordon made the comments in Tallinn today that these
are encouraging steps in the sense that both sides remain committed
to seeking normalization because it is in – they recognize, I think,
that it is in, ultimately, their collective interest to do this. We
just have to continue to find a way to move forward’, – he said

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress