MOSCOW LAUDS EFFORTS TO ADVANCE DIALOG ON GARABAGH
AzerNews Weekly
June 3 2009
Azerbaijan
The meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders due in
St.-Petersburg, Russia on Thursday displays the resolve of the
two governments to continue dialog on settling the Upper (Nagorno)
Garabagh conflict, the Russian president`s spokeswoman has said.
Natalya Timakova told journalists that talks of Presidents Ilham Aliyev
and Serzh Sarkisian with their Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev
demonstrate the continuation of the process that started with the
signing of a declaration on Garabagh settlement in Moscow last fall.
The Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders signed the document on
November 2, 2008 after trilateral talks held on President Medvedev`s
initiative. The first document inked by the two heads of state in
the past 16 years, it called for a political solution of the Garabagh
conflict through further dialog brokered by the mediating OSCE Minsk
Group (MG).
Timakova pointed out the significance of Presidents Aliyev and Serzh
Sarkisian coming to St.-Petersburg, saying this will enable the parties
to convene again and discuss the current state of the peace process.
"The very fact that dialog continues, the sides` displaying readiness
for it and their accepting Russia`s mediating role in this is
important," the presidential spokesperson said.
According to the MG co-chairs, the parties have provided their consent
for the upcoming presidential meeting. Shortly before the talks,
the two leaders are scheduled to meet with the Russian president.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for nearly
two decades. Peace talks that kicked off after hostilities in the
early 1990s have brought little tangible result so far but are still
under way. The negotiations are mediated through the MG by Russia,
the United States and France.