In 2006 significant progress was achieved in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict peaceful settlement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow December 20. "Establishing forecasts is ungrateful. Russia is the Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group jointly with the U.S. and France, and the task of the Co-chairs is to assist the conflicting sides to reach an agreement," he said. According to him, the direct contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents, as well as Foreign Ministers, assume key importance. He said that the mediators assist in organizing these contacts, listen to what the leaders say, and prepare for the next negotiations, by devising proposals, which help the leaders to move ahead.

Highlighting the progress in the negotiation process this year, Lavrov said that there is an understanding that the Co-chairs play their role in the contacts between the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. He refrained from establishing forecasts regarding the date of the agreement, noting that the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia have a wish to find a way out from this complicated crisis. He said that OSCE Minsk Group supports all principles of the international law, but the main fact is to create maximal available conditions for the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia with regards to the stages and dates of the future negotiations.