Baku, Y?revan and Moscow count on success of Armenian-Azerbaijani summit

Heads of the foreign policy departments of the both Caucasus countries held today consultations with the Russian participation in Moscow on the eve of the negotiations of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharyan are to meet on 27 August in Kazan during the CIS countries meeting.

The Russia’s Foreign Ministry’s head Sergey Lavrov underlined the intention of Moscow “to create all conditions for achieving progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”. He stressed, “he cannot comment on the negotiations process, headed by the OSCE Minsk Group chairmen”. “They have, undoubtedly, some ideas”, the Russia’s Minister noted.

"The settlement must be such, that all parties involved would feel themselves more secure, and the balance of forces, which historically formed in the region, would not be broken”, the Russia’s co-chair of the OSCE Misnk Group Yuri Merzlaykov said.

The head of the Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry Elmar Mammedyarov evaluates positively the talks in Moscow. Along with this, according to him, “it is early to talk of any progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict”. “There is a possibility to come to the common denominator on the problem”, the Azerbaijani Minister thinks.

"There is hope that we will find common denominators”, the Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanayan considers. It would bring the peace and stability in the South Caucasus region”. The main subject of the talks in Moscow is “preparations for the meetings of Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia on 27 August in Kazan”. "We discussed details of the forthcoming talks”, he said.

According to him, the priority is self-determination of the Nagorno Karabakh, which must be manifested in the right of the population to dispose of their destiny independently”. "The rest issues – liquidation of the conflict’s consequences, the problem of the territories, returning of refugees – entail from this priority and follow it”, Oskanayn considers.