U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: "WE JUST HAVE TO CONTINUE TO FIND A WAY TO MOVE FORWARD"

Panorama.am
23/04/2010

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip J. Crowley referred to
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s address during a briefing
yesterday. Mr. Crowley said Washington wasn’t surprised by Serzh
Sargsyan’s announcement.

"I don’t think we’re surprised by the announcement by President
Sargsian. 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
encouraged 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,"
Mr. Crowley said.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State stated they are 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."

The reporters got interested if there is any other formula in their
agenda to move the process forward. Crowley said: "We’ve invested
a great deal of energy in this. We’re going to continue our ongoing
discussions with the parties."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress