MEDVEDEV, SARGSYAN DISCUSS BILATERAL RELATIONS, KARABAKH
Itar-Tass
April 20 2010
Russia
GORKI, April 20 (Itar-Tass) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan at the Gorki residence
on Tuesday.
Medvedev cordially greeted his guest and offered to discuss bilateral
relations, regional and international problems.
Sargsyan thanked Medvedev for the invitation to Moscow and suggested
discussing the Karabakh settlement. He said that the Armenian-Russian
intergovernmental commission was working energetically and thanked
Medvedev for opening a research and innovations center in Yerevan. The
Armenian government and the Russian embassy in Yerevan are working
together on the reconstruction of a memorial to Russian officers
killed in the Armenian-Turkish War.
The Karabakh problem exacerbated in February 1988, when the Karabakh
autonomous district of Azerbaijan declared its wish to secede from
Azerbaijan and to join Armenia. An armed confrontation occurred
in 1991-1994.
Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia started Karabakh settlement
negotiations on September 23, 1991. The OSCE Minsk Group involving
twelve countries was formed in March 1992 at the initiative of
Moscow, and a step-by-step Karabakh settlement plan was drafted. The
negotiations continue within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group
cochaired by Russia, the United States and France. Baku and Yerevan
started a direct summit dialog in 1999. The Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents met nine times in 2009.
President Dmitry Medvedev initiated a tripartite meeting with the
Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders in Moscow on November 2, 2008, and a
declaration defining Karabakh settlement principles was approved. That
was the first document in almost 15 years signed by the parties to
the conflict.
Positions of the conflicting sides have been invariable all through
the negotiations. Baku insists on the liberation of Azerbaijani
territories and the return of refugees before discussing the Karabakh
status. Azerbaijan is ready to make the region highly autonomous and
keep it within the national borders. Meanwhile, Armenia insists on
starting with the definition of the political status of Karabakh
(which cannot be subordinated to Azerbaijan, in its opinion) and
Karabakh’s international recognition before clearing up consequences
of the armed conflict.
In the opinion of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan should reach a
political and diplomatic understanding. Moscow has repeatedly declared
its readiness to be the guarantor of the Karabakh settlement.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
