"The Rambouillet talks on settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict were very important. We need to move forward on the Karabakh agreement. The year 2006 is a very important one in this respect," OSCE Minsk Group US Co-Chair Steven Mann said, reported Voice of America Russian Service. In his words, on the whole the talks were detailed and were held in a very positive atmosphere. "However, they were very hard and I am afraid we did not make much progress," he remarked. Asked about most difficult moments in the talks the mediator refused to go into details. "However, I can say that the two presidents and the co-chairs arrived for the talks in Rambouillet aimed at core issues. We helped them have in-depth and serious discussion and we worked for them to come to accord. On the whole, it was a very intensive discussion," he added.

Speaking on the causes of "failure of the Rambouillet talks," Steven Mann said, "Firstly, as of Karabakh I will say there is still time. We must search for a solution, as it is a humanitarian tragedy and a serious regional security issue. The key moment is that both parties' political will is necessary. By saying "political will" I mean the will that includes compromise from each side. You cannot indicate a single international negotiation process, at which one of the parties had managed to see its demands fully met. In this case I am fully convinced: it is an opportunity both to Azerbaijan and Armenia without risk of loss. To reach this goal the political will of each president, each people, as well as international support is necessary."