OSCE CHAIRMAN UPBEAT ON KARABAKH PROCESS

news.az
July 15 2011
Azerbaijan

‘It is very important to base on this approach and reach an agreement
on ‘basic principles’ as soon as possible’.

The OSCE chairman-in-office Audronius Azubalis considers that the
attainment of an agreement on basic principles and shift to developing
a comprehensive peace treaty between the parties to the Karabakh
conflict is a priority and an attainable goal.

‘This goal is completely attainable and the sides must consider it
their priority’, said the OSCE chairman-in-office, Lithuanian Foreign
Minister Audronius Azubalis, reported Trend.

He said OSCE is still ready to support any effort as part of the Minsk
Group and in a trilateral format of talks of the presidents of Russia,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The recent meeting of the three presidents was held in Russia’s
Kazan in June. Big hopes were laid on this meeting, the ninth
consecutive over the past three years, in terms of the breakthrough
in the negotiation process that last for over 20 years without clear
progress. However, it ended without agreements on the main principles
of solution. In the joint statement, the sides just stated progress
on the way to this goal.

‘Though the recent meeting in Kazan led to no agreement on ‘basic
principles’ on which we laid our hopes, I am still encouraged by the
fact that the sides confirmed their readiness to achieve solution by
way of talks’, Azubalis said.

It is very important to base on this approach and reach an agreement on
‘basic principles’ as soon as possible, he said.

‘Before the meeting, in late May, the presidents of the United States,
France and Russia made a statement on Nagorno Karabakh in which they
urged the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to demonstrate a political
will and finish working on basic principles of settlement during the
meeting in Kazan”.

The OSCE chairman urged the parties to respect the agreements that were
reached earlier as part of the meetings of the leaders in trilateral
format in Sochi and Astrakhan.