ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
August 24, 2005 Wednesday
Moscow sees hopeful signs in Karabakh settlement
By Ksenia Kaminskaya
MOSCOW
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday “hopeful signs have appeared
in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.”
“This may see further development at the upcoming meeting between
Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Ilkham Aliyev,” a diplomatic source
said.
Wednesday reports said the meeting between the Azerbaijani and
Armenian leaders would take place in Kazan on August 27.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his
colleagues from Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan and his Azerbaijani
counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov held consultations in Moscow which were
attended by international mediators – the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk
group /Russia, the United States and France/.
Lavrov underscored Moscow’s intention “to create all the conditions
for achieving progress in settling the Nagorno Karabakh problem.”
He underlined that he could not comment on the negotiations which are
steered by the co-chairpersons of the OSCE Minsk group.
They certainly have ideas, the Russian minister noted.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan said Yerevan and Baku can
hopefully find “common denominators” in resolving the Nagorno
Karabakh problem.
“There is hope that we’ll find common denominators; it would bring
peace and stability to southern Caucasus,” Oskanyan said.
Oskanyan said the self-determination of Nagorno Karabakh is the
priority in settling the conflict, which should manifest itself in
the right of its population to take care of their fate on their own.
The remaining issues such as the elimination of the consequences of
the conflict, the territorial problem and the return of refugees stem
from this priority and will follow it, he noted.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov gave a positive
valuation to the Moscow meeting. However, he believes it is premature
to talk about any headway in resolving the conflict.
It is necessary to actively work on the settlement. There is an
opportunity “to arrive at a common denominator for this problem,” he
said.
The negotiations over the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
began on September 23, 1991 and involved Russia, Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan and Armenia.
In February-May 1992, the OSCE joined the settlement efforts.
The fighting in the conflict zone ceased on May 12, 1994. The
negotiations are held within the framework of the Minsk group,
co-chaired by Russia, the United States and France.