MOSCOW WILL ACTIVELY ASSIST KARABAKH DISPUTE SETTLEMENT, I. IVANOV SAID

PanARMENIAN.Net - YEREVAN, February 23. /Mediamax/. Foreign Minister of Russia Igor Ivanov said that Moscow will "by no means keep itself aloof from the Karabakh conflict settlement".

Speaking on Thursday at a press conference in Moscow, Igor Ivanov noted that Moscow is going to actively assist the settlement of this issue. Russian Foreign Minister reminded that it was in Moscow where the direct dialogue of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia began to resolve this dispute.

Ivanov thinks that only as a result of direct dialogue and direct agreements between the sides a long-term settlement of the Karabakh issue is possible.

As the Russian agencies report, Minister Ivanov said that there is also another effective mechanism which can progress the Karabakh settlement, within the frames of which Russia actively cooperates with France and the USA. In this question, he stressed, there should be no "rivalry" between the participating sides, as all the participants of the peace process will win from political agreements on Nagorno Karabakh. The stability in the Caucasus and in the region as a whole will depend on the settlement of this dispute, Igor Ivanov said. --0--