AZERBAIJAN: US DIPLOMAT VISIT AIMS TO KICK START KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS
Eurasianet
April 3, 2009
A top US diplomat is in Azerbaijan to build fresh momentum for a
Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.
In Baku, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza pressed Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev on April 3 to hold a meeting with Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan. Direct presidential talks are widely viewed as necessary
to kick-start the stalemated Karabakh peace process.
"I hope the next meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents will
take place within the framework of ‘Eastern Partnership’ summit on
May 7-8," the APA news agency quoted Bryza as saying during a news
conference.
Bryza also conveyed of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s support for
the Minsk Group that spearheads Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution
efforts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
the Day.az news site reported. Bryza co-chairs the group along with
Bernard Fassier of France and Yuri Merzlyakov of Russia.