Nalbandian says trilateral meetings of presidents over Karabakh are effective
30.01.2012,
14:07
Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian described trilateral meetings of Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani presidents over the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement as ‘effective,’ and expressed hope that the meetings in this format will continue.
YEREVAN, January 30. /ARKA/. In a televised interview with several leading Armenian TV channels Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian described trilateral meetings of Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani presidents over the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement as ‘effective,’ and expressed hope that the meetings in this format will continue.
He downplayed indirect statements from Baku that these meetings are a Russian initiative saying the presidents of the United States and France expressed their support for these efforts. He also noted that the OSCE Minsk co-chairs’ statements are in tune with the position of the Armenian side which is ready to use them as a basis for the settlement, while no such statements can be heard in Baku.
Nalbandian believes also that the development of the peace treaty text on Karabakh will require a lot of work even after the sides agree upon all basic conflict settlement principles.
"Of course, a corresponding positive environment will be important. What we have now is hindering, provocative atmosphere formed in Azerbaijan ... If we want peace, we must prepare our peoples for peace, not war, as Azerbaijan does, ‘Nalbandian said.
Karabakh, populated overwhelmingly by ethnic Armenians, broke away from Azerbaijan following a three-year war that left some 30,000 dead. A Russia-brokered ceasefire ended the hostilities in 1994, but peace has remained fragile since then. The current Minsk Group-mediated negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have not brought a peace agreement yet.
The latest peace plan of the international mediators calls for the Armenian withdrawal from some of the territories held by the Karabakh military, the return of displaced people, security guarantees for Karabakh and its Armenian population and the possibility of a future referendum to decide the area’s final legal status. -0-
