February 13, 2006 - 12:59 AMT
Rambouillet Talks Most Serious Attempt to Settle Karabakh Conflict after Key West
The Rambouillet talks held by Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev appear as the most serious attempt to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict after the Key West negotiations, a source reported. According to it, the parties faced a serious task referring to the status of Kelbajar and Nagorno Karabakh but failed to advance. It is supposed that conduction of a referendum in Karabakh is one of the constituents of the talks and "the Armenian party wishes to date the withdrawal of the troops to the referendum." "Proceeding from this logic Armenia offers to return Kelbajar in the end, when Azerbaijan agrees on referendum, however the Azeri party is against. Thus no progress was achieved," RFE/RL reported.