YURI MERZLYAKOV: OSCE INTERESTED IN COOPERATION WITH PACE

PanARMENIAN.Net - The OSCE Minsk Group and the PACE Subcommittee on Nagorno Karabakh can cooperate on a number of issues, OSCE MG Russian Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov stated when commenting on the Subcommittee sitting held in Paris last week. "The OSCE MG Co-Chairs mediate and advance proposals while PACE can mobilize public opinion in both states for achieving a compromise essential for the settlement of the conflict. PACE can also encourage the conflicting parting to honor the commitments to the CoE, one of them being the resolution of the Karabakh conflict," the Russian diplomat said. Yuri Merzlyakov voiced opinion that the CoE and PACE can take the control over the ceasefire and urge the states to fulfill the obligations. In his words, "frequent militaristic statements do not promote the settlement of the conflict." "We are ready to share authority with PACE to prevent statements of the kind", he noted adding that the OSCE MG Co-Chairs are concerned over the increase of the military budget of Armenia and Azerbaijan, since it can have a negative impact upon the peaceful settlement process, Mediamax reported.