Yerevan, December 1, Armenpress: Foreign minister Vartan Oskanian brushed aside today speculations that the talks over the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were at an impasse, describing the November 28 meeting of Armenian and Russian presidents in Belarus as ‘positive and constructive.”
Oskanian said the presidents, who met on the sidelines of a CIS summit, centered on those issues which are not yet solved. ‘Armenia would like the presidents to reach a complete agreement on these issues, but regretfully this is not the case yet and there are disagreements both on basic principles and details,” Oskanian said.
He said the presidents will soon give clear instructions and guidelines to their foreign ministers to go on with the talks. Oskanian said there is a real chance to break the impasse as the 2.5 page document on the table is a rationale document which may offer a fresh window of opportunity to resolve the conflict in 2007.
Oskanian then reiterated Armenia’s fundamental position that the dispute must be settled only on the basis of the principle of self-determination saying a referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh could eliminate the conflict between this and the other principle of territorial integrity, which Azerbaijan insists must be respected.
He also commented on Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev’s remarks that the sides approached the final stage of negotiations. “It is hard to say whether we have indeed reached this point as there are still many stumbling blocks, but if Mr. Aliyev thinks so then Azerbaijan must agree to injecting the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh into the talks as the conflict cannot be resolved without Karabakh participation in the final stage,” he said.
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