The June 4-5 meeting between Armenian president Robert Kocharian and his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev doesn’t seem to be satisfactory for both sides. Vartan Oskanian, RA foreign minister, stated yesterday that the sides failed to come to terms over the same issue that remained unsettled in Rambouillet. Foreign minister of Azerbaijan voiced the same opinion about the Bucharest meeting. He said that the sides didn’t achieve big progress in the course of the Bucharest negotiations. At the same time, Mamediarov said that the sides agreed to continue the negotiation process and hold the next meeting at the level of the foreign ministers, if needed.
Meanwhile, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs pointed out in the statement made on the June 6 Bucharest meeting that “the peaceful settlement is still actual and achievable, while 2006 is “a window” for securing progress.” The co-chairs are sure that the settled principles they defined for the sides in conflict “secure mutually acceptable settlement grounds and they express regret that the sides haven’t come to agreement around those principles, yet.”
As for the activities of the Minsk Group co-chairs, according to RFE/RL, Steven Mann stated that USA will represent another diplomat to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict by the rotation principle. Mann will occupy the position of the US Deputy State Secretary for the Central and the South Asian states. The change of the co-chair may have certain impact on the negotiations from the aspect of time, as the new co-chair will have to study the process. Bedsides, Russia doesn’t support the rotation of the co-chair. The Azeri mass media informed that Burdikin, temporary representative of RF Affairs in Azerbaijan, said that Steven Mann realizes the peculiarities of two countries and the change of the co-chair in the course of the president’s meeting “is not a very good step.”
On the other hand, taking into account not very satisfactory evaluation of the Bucharest meeting, the sides state that another Kocharian-Aliyev meeting will be held in late 2006. Both Novruz Mamedov, head of Foreign Relations Department at Azeri President’s Staff, and Victor Soghomonian, press secretary of RA president, expressed this opinion.
According to PanArmenian.net Victor Soghomonian stated that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will meet and give instructions to the foreign ministers, who will prepare the meeting of the presidents. As for the probability of signing any agreement during the third meeting of the presidents in late 2006, none of the sides sees such an opportunity. Meanwhile Matthew Bryza, deputy US State Secretary for Europe and Eurasia, stated that the sides in conflict have quite a trustworthy document for settlement at their disposal, while USA urges presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to take more efforts to settle the conflict this year, in the course of “The Oil and Gas of the Caspian Basin” exhibition in Baku.
By Aghavni Harutyunian
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