Azernews.Az

The US, Russian and French mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh are due to meet in Moscow on Thursday, US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Robert Bradtke, told journalists at the end of his visit to Baku paid with the Russian co-chairman.
Bradtke said the three co-chairs will discuss further steps aimed at resolving the Upper Garabagh conflict. "After the discussions we will pass decisions on taking certain steps."
"One of the main goals of our visit to Azerbaijan was to make an effort jointly with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov to get back the point that has passed in the Garabagh problem," the diplomat said, but he did not elaborate.
Further, Bradtke said the mediators’ meetings in Baku were "serious and constructive".
"During our meetings I was very pleased with Ilham Aliyev’s stressing his support for a peaceful settlement of the Garabagh problem. I tried to convince him that US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also give preference to a negotiated solution."
Bradtke declined to comment on Baku’s statements that Azerbaijan accepts the Madrid principles, a peace outline proposed by the mediators, while Armenia rejects them, and only said discussions were underway with both sides.
The US co-chair noted that unresolved issues remain between Baku and Yerevan, but he did not spell out their premise.
Igor Popov, the new Russian co-chair, said Garabagh settlement negotiations are proceeding slower than it is desired.
"I believe a lot of work remains to be done. We have hard work to do, and I will try to justify the trust vested in me."
Remarkably, the co-chairs were received by President Aliyev separately this time. Thus, first, Popov and the outgoing Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov were hosted by the president on Tuesday. Further, US mediator Bradtke, who arrived in Baku afterwards, had a meeting with the Azerbaijani leader.
The other co-chair - Bernard Fassier of France – did not take part in the discussions due to the problems with plane flights in Europe caused by the ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano erution.
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 adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. Despite numerous rounds of OSCE-brokered negotiations, peace talks have been fruitless so far and refugees remain stranded.*