Azernews.Az

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has said he sees a solution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh in direct talks between the parties, without international mediators involved.
Asked in an interview with the Russian Echo Moskvi radio station whether or not Russia, one of the co-chairs of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group, could "play the Garabagh card", Saakashvili said: "First, I have been hearing a lot of very optimistic statements by European diplomats in the past years that ‘we are close to a breakthrough’ and it always appeared to me that the desired is merely being presented as true.
"The problem is complicated and the key to its solution is Russia. Certainly, there are objective problems…And there is only one recipe for solving all outstanding problems, that is direct talks between these countries and respect for international law, including the right of people to return to their places of residence and honoring state sovereignty."
Saakashvili said that, so long as the current situation persists, chances remain for its worsening.
"For the situation to change for the better, countries should negotiate, peoples should communicate," Saakashvili said. He cited as an example the talks ongoing between Turkey and Armenia, adding that they should definitely be coordinated with Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. The Minsk Group, co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, is brokering peace talks.*