Robert Bradtke: Yerevan and Baku are on most important stage of talksJuly 8, 2010 - 21:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - OSCE Minsk Group U.S. Co-Chair Robert Bradtke said that the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has played an important role in the Karabakh conflict settlement. “One should not forget that during her visit to Azerbaijan and Armenia the U.S. Secretary of State discussed not only the Karabakh conflict. However, the visit has once again reaffirmed the U.S. Administration’s resoluteness to help the sides solve it,” noted Bradtke. According to him, it is necessary not to focus on hindrances at the current stage of talks; the parties should try to look into future. He added that the role of the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group’s Co-Chair countries should be increased in this issue. Commenting on the current stage of negotiations, Robert Bradtke stated that a certain progress has been recorded in the process. According to him, the sides agree that the solution should be based on the Helsinki Final Act principles. “The sides accept the six elements, which have been submitted by the U.S., French and Russian Presidents for two times: temporary and final status of Nagorno Karabakh, return of territories, direct corridor between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, right of refugees and internally displaced persons to return, as well as international peacekeeping guarantees. Now we should reconcile the six elements with the Helsinki Final Act principles, then to reflect them in a framework agreement, based on what the final talks on settlement will be hold,” the U.S. Co-Chairmen noted, adding that the sides are on the most important stage of talks, the Azerbaijani service of BBC reported. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |