Russia & CIS General Newswire
January 15, 2008 Tuesday 10:18 AM MSK
Azerbaijan interested in Nagorno-Karabakh settlement – Minsk Group
co- chairman
BAKU Jan 15
Co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group have discussed Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement proposals in Baku, Russia’s co- chairman of the Minsk
Group Yury Merzlyakov said.
"As yet, we learnt the position of one party [Azerbaijan]. Now we
have to talk with the other party [Armenia]. I can say that Baku’s
reaction was positive. Everything is normal and even good," Merzlykov
told journalists before leaving Baku for Yerevan on Monday evening.
Merzlyakov, however, did not voice the essence of settlement
proposals.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian
Affairs, U.S. co-chairman of the Minsk Group Matthew Bryza also
hailed the Baku talks, saying that Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev has
a desire to reach an agreement and wants to settle the problem within
the framework of Azeri interests.
The parties to the conflict have a potential to come to a common
denominator, Bryza said. The talks are a competition to a certain
extent, and every party protects its interests, the U.S. diplomat
said.
One cannot say that the Madrid proposals satisfy both parties, Bryza
said, adding that there exist elements that make the parties both
satisfied and dissatisfied at the same time.