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Medvedev, Sargsyan Discuss Bilateral Relations, Karabakh

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  • Medvedev, Sargsyan Discuss Bilateral Relations, Karabakh

    MEDVEDEV, SARGSYAN DISCUSS BILATERAL RELATIONS, KARABAKH

    Itar-Tass
    April 20 2010
    Russia

    GORKI, April 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
    met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan at the Gorki residence
    on Tuesday.

    Medvedev cordially greeted his guest and offered to discuss bilateral
    relations, regional and international problems.

    Sargsyan thanked Medvedev for the invitation to Moscow and suggested
    discussing the Karabakh settlement. He said that the Armenian-Russian
    intergovernmental commission was working energetically and thanked
    Medvedev for opening a research and innovations center in Yerevan. The
    Armenian government and the Russian embassy in Yerevan are working
    together on the reconstruction of a memorial to Russian officers
    killed in the Armenian-Turkish War.

    The Karabakh problem exacerbated in February 1988, when the Karabakh
    autonomous district of Azerbaijan declared its wish to secede from
    Azerbaijan and to join Armenia. An armed confrontation occurred
    in 1991-1994.

    Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Armenia started Karabakh settlement
    negotiations on September 23, 1991. The OSCE Minsk Group involving
    twelve countries was formed in March 1992 at the initiative of
    Moscow, and a step-by-step Karabakh settlement plan was drafted. The
    negotiations continue within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group
    cochaired by Russia, the United States and France. Baku and Yerevan
    started a direct summit dialog in 1999. The Armenian and Azerbaijani
    presidents met nine times in 2009.

    President Dmitry Medvedev initiated a tripartite meeting with the
    Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders in Moscow on November 2, 2008, and a
    declaration defining Karabakh settlement principles was approved. That
    was the first document in almost 15 years signed by the parties to
    the conflict.

    Positions of the conflicting sides have been invariable all through
    the negotiations. Baku insists on the liberation of Azerbaijani
    territories and the return of refugees before discussing the Karabakh
    status. Azerbaijan is ready to make the region highly autonomous and
    keep it within the national borders. Meanwhile, Armenia insists on
    starting with the definition of the political status of Karabakh
    (which cannot be subordinated to Azerbaijan, in its opinion) and
    Karabakh's international recognition before clearing up consequences
    of the armed conflict.

    In the opinion of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan should reach a
    political and diplomatic understanding. Moscow has repeatedly declared
    its readiness to be the guarantor of the Karabakh settlement.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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