OSCE MG: Any Agreement Will Provide Victorious Outcomes to Karabakh Conflict Parties
Co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group for settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will hold a number of meetings with Azerbaijani leaders, including President Ilham Aliyev and FM Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku February 1. In the words of Russian Co-Chair of the OSCE MG Yuri Merzlyakov, during the talks in Baku the parties will discuss "three issues that are not agreed upon." At that he noted that "making any statements on the threshold of the meetings would not be correct." In his words, the agenda of the coming meeting of the Azeri and Armenian Presidents in Paris February 10-11 will also be specified. February 2 the mediators will leave for Yerevan, reported Trend agency.
Meanwhile, US mediator Steven Mann stated that "if parties make efforts, compromise and show political will, the year 2006 may be that of a peace accord over Karabakh." "We believe it is possible to attain a peace agreement in the coming months," he remarked. "From the point of view of the US I can say that we believe it is possible to attain a peace agreement in the coming months. I suppose the meetings during the two weeks are a very important chance. On behalf of the US I can again say we would not like the parties to miss a historical chance of the kind," Mann stated. "The negotiation process is advancing. We witness that the parties achieved considerable progress. Any agreement will provide victorious outcomes for the parties. I think the negotiations are proceeding this way. But these are very hard issues. If the problem were not so hard it would have been solved long ago. Both Presidents as well as the Foreign Ministers demonstrate good will although the issues discussed are complicated," he resumed, reported RFE/RL.
Meanwhile, US mediator Steven Mann stated that "if parties make efforts, compromise and show political will, the year 2006 may be that of a peace accord over Karabakh." "We believe it is possible to attain a peace agreement in the coming months," he remarked. "From the point of view of the US I can say that we believe it is possible to attain a peace agreement in the coming months. I suppose the meetings during the two weeks are a very important chance. On behalf of the US I can again say we would not like the parties to miss a historical chance of the kind," Mann stated. "The negotiation process is advancing. We witness that the parties achieved considerable progress. Any agreement will provide victorious outcomes for the parties. I think the negotiations are proceeding this way. But these are very hard issues. If the problem were not so hard it would have been solved long ago. Both Presidents as well as the Foreign Ministers demonstrate good will although the issues discussed are complicated," he resumed, reported RFE/RL.
