Turan News Agency, Azerbaijan
Nov 23 2006
OSCE MEDIATORS CONFIRM AZERI, ARMENIAN LEADERS TO MEET IN BELARUS
Baku, 23 November: The [French and Russian] co-chairmen of the OSCE
Minsk Group, Bernard Fassier (who also acted on behalf of US
co-chairman Matthew Bryza), and Yuriy Merzlyakov, visited Yerevan and
Baku on 20-21 November. They met the Armenian and Azerbaijani
presidents and the foreign ministers of the two countries.
The talks resulted in the two presidents accepting the co-chairmen’s
proposal to meet in Minsk next week [28 November] on the sidelines of
the next summit of CIS heads of state, says a joint statement by the
co-chairmen which Turan news agency has received from the OSCE
office.
The talks in Yerevan and Baku confirmed that the three rounds of
consultations between the foreign ministers held in Moscow, Paris and
Brussels in October and November were useful in advancing
negotiations.
"In light of the current meetings with the two countries’ foreign
ministers and presidents, the co-chairmen are hoping that the
forthcoming meeting between the presidents in Minsk will allow both
sides to make a new step towards reaching agreement on the basic
principles of the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. The
principles were backed by the leaders of G8 in Saint Petersburg in
July 2006 and are still remaining on the negotiating table as the
best opportunity to achieve fair and durable peace," the statement
said.