No breakthrough reached at Aliyev-Kocharian meeting in St. Petersburg - Mamedyarov

Jun 11 2007

BAKU. June 11 (Interfax) - No breakthrough was reached at a meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev with Armenian President Robert Kocharian in St. Petersburg, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mamedyarov said.

"The Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents talked about the issues at the latest meeting assuming the earlier discussed elements; however, I cannot say that a breakthrough was secured," the minister told journalist on Monday.

"However, every meeting is another possibility to clearly understand the position of the other party. The fact that the meeting lasted three hours proves that it was intense. Many issues were discussed. In general, these are basic settlement principles," the minister said.

The talks were held within the framework of the Prague process, the minister said. This means that a gradual settlement should be guaranteed, according to which Armenian forces in the occupied territories should be replaced with peacekeepers, forced migrants should return, and then the Nagorno-Karabakh status issue should be solved, he said.

Talks will continue; however, co-chairmen of the Minsk Group asked for some time to study the situation, Mamedyarov said, adding: "One knows the direction of further talks, but some nuances are possible." ar

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