We hope sincerely that the agreement on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement will be signed in 2006, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman from Russia Yuri Merzlyakov said in a statement on 17 December at the news conference in Baku, Trend reports.
В"The co-chairs are only mediators and the major role in the negotiation process remains for Armenia and Azerbaijan. “The negotiation sides themselves are to be addressed more specific issues of the negotiation process to”, Merzlyakov was quoted as saying, urging the sides to be more reserved in their utterances. According to him, it would be easier for the co-chairs to take measures, “unless the sides come out with militant statements and the cease-fire regime would be kept “. As he says, such statements serve partly to the “internal political goals”.
В"There is a ground for enthusiasm for the co-chairs and we think, the specific base for signing the final agreement will be set up in 2006”, the Russian co-chair noted, saying arrival of the OSCE 6 high level serviceman who have not been to Azerbaijan since 1998, also give grounds for “certain optimistic conclusions”.
As for the involvement of the representatives of the Nagorny Karabakh Armenian community in the negotiation process Merzlykaov noted, “the move will be real only after coordinating the principles of the conflict settlement by the sides”.
The US co-chair Steven Mann noted, neither of parties can “receive all they want”, saying, the OSCE Minsk Group welcomes “advancement towards lessening of differences in the position of the sides”. В"It is possible, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will be settled during one year, or during one hundred years”, Mann said, noting the US financial support to Nagorny Karabakh is “minimal and bears the humanitarian character”.
The OSCE Minsk group co-chair from France Bernard Facie called “nonsense” statements of municipality heads of any cities in France on the partnership with the residential settlements of Nagorny Karabakh. В"There are 38,000 municipalities and none of them is entitled to make political statements. Such statements are mere rubbish”, the French co-chairman said in conclusion.
