Before the visit to the region of the peace-makers of the OSCE Minsk group the Russian co-chairman Nikolay Gribkov made a statement which attracted the attention of the observers. He spoke in favor of direct participation of the NKR authorities as an “independent side of the conflict” in negotiations. Nikolay Gribkov said that “sooner or later Karabakh should be involved in the negotiation process”. “I have always said that it will hardly be possible to arrive at a settlement without participation of Stepanakert, without taking into account the interests of Nagorno Karabakh. I think everybody understands that Nagorno Karabakh is no longer an object, but a subject of negotiations,” the diplomat said.