Yerevan, Baku may sign framework agreement on Karabakh till spring 2008?

PanARMENIAN.Net - Azerbaijan and Armenia could sign a framework agreement next year resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Matthew J. Bryza, Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of State and Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, said Friday.



"There is a possibility that prior to presidential elections in Armenia, which will take place in the spring of next year, some kind of framework agreement on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict could be signed by the heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia," he said.



Bryza said Armenian President Robert Kocharian had told the MG Co-chairs during their meeting Thursday in Yerevan that signing such a "gentlemanly agreement" prior to the country's presidential ballot was possible.



"I asked the president myself this question, and in reply he said that such a possibility exists," Bryza told journalists.



"But, of course, this will not be the end of the negotiation process," the diplomat stressed, adding that he hoped a new Armenian president would uphold any such agreement.



"Armenian leaders are optimistic about the talks. A new team is being formed on the threshold of the Armenian presidential elections and it's not ruled out that they will try to find common ground with the Azeri counterparts," Bryza said, Novosti Azerbaijan reports.