Russian FM Convinced Upcoming Meeting Of Armenian And Azerbaijani Le

RUSSIAN FM CONVINCED UPCOMING MEETING OF ARMENIAN AND AZERBAIJANI LEADERS AIMS TO LAY BASIS FOR FURTHER WORK OF FOREIGN MINISTERS WITH SUPPORT OF OSCE MG

arminfo
2008-06-02 11:37:00

ArmInfo. ‘Impatience natural for some cases must not cast doubts on
the mechanisms of the negotiations’, Foreign Minister of the Russian
Federation Sergey Lavrov said at a joint press conference with Armenian
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan when asked to comment on the UN
Resolution on the situation in the occupied territories.

‘I’d like to add that the aspiration of the parties for sooner
settlement of the conflict and normalization of the situation is
clear, of course. It is always important. At the same time, there is
great experience in management of various crisis situations, which
requires consistent activity in the format that the parties once
agreed to work in. And the impatience natural for some cases must
not cast doubts on the mechanisms of the negotiations, especially,
the mechanism that proved effective in practice’, Lavrov said.

He mentioned that last year Mink Group Co-chairs made proposals to
the parties, which do not solve all the issues necessary for a final
agreement, but they made some breakthroughs in the greatest part of
the aspects of future settlement. ‘It is an official document kept
at OSCE. It is a strong basis for future progress. I am sure that
the upcoming meeting of the two presidents in St. Petersburg aims
to lay a basis for further work of the two ministers with support
of the Co-chairs. Of course, an agreement is possible only through
direct negotiations but the parties have always highly appreciated
the mechanism of the Co-chairs at our meetings. In this connection,
I believe it necessary evaluating the situation when a proposal for
settlement of conflicts outside the mechanisms created for it is put
for public voting. It can hardly help our general efforts to create
maximum constructive external atmosphere for the normal specific work
of the parties’, the Russian minister said.

Asked to assess the prospects of Karabakh conflict’s resolution
given the opinion of some representatives of the Minsk Group that
the settlement is possible quite soon in case of political will of
the parties, Minister Lavrov said: ‘In case of political will of the
parties, everything must be done very quickly indeed. However, there
are things that do not need hasty measures. Specific negotiations
are conducted on a very complicate issue.

The parties confirmed their intention to further coordinate the
remaining aspects of the problem. And there is strong decisiveness
of the MG Co-chairs to support the parties in it, which is very
important. We reckon with another factor i.e. the domestic political
calendar of Armenia and Azerbaijan. We believe it necessary for all
the external players to avoid making any careless steps and providing
new ideas to the parties trying to help the process. In such cases
consistency and devotion to the agreements achieved and especially
to the agreements bringing results that will finally, I am sure,
allow settling the conflict is an extremely important element of the
general task’.

‘As regards the build of forces in the region, international treaties
backed by a series of verified mechanisms regulate the parameters of
armament. We proceed from this. I am sure that it is the stance of
the Minsk Group saying that no military solution to the problem is
possible. The three Co-chairs work on this basis and the president
and foreign ministers do the same’, the minister said.