May 8, 2009 - 16:26 AMT
OSCE MG: presidential meting marks significant progress in Karabakh process
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Ambassador Yuri Merzlyakov of Russia, Ambassador Bernard Fassier of France, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza of the United States - have today issued the following statement:

"The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs organized a meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, with their Foreign Ministers, on 7 May at the residence of the U.S. Ambassador in Prague. This meeting of the two Presidents is the fourth in less than a year. The Co-Chairs are of the opinion that each of these meetings has brought the sides closer to a breakthrough. Today's meeting marks significant progress in that regard.

The Presidents welcomed the Co-Chairs' plan to intensify further their shuttle diplomacy to assemble all the elements required for a breakthrough. The Co-Chairs look forward to their next trip to the region and to prepare a further summit, as proposed to the Presidents, in St. Petersburg in early June. The Co-Chairs expect that these coming meetings will allow for the concrete realization of a breakthrough on the Basic Principles by the end of the year."