July 8, 2004 - 18:04 AMT
ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DENIED REPORTS ABOUT "WASHINGTON PLAN" OF KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian has denied the reports that recently Washington allegedly proposed a settlement plan for the Karabakh issue, in compliance with which Armenia had to cede to Azerbaijan three regions that are part of the security belt around Nagorno Karabakh. "It is not true. There are no Washington, Paris or Moscow plans," the Minister said in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta Russian newspaper. In his words, the process of the OSCE Minsk Group is available. Within its framework the Nagorno Karabakh problem is discussed and there have been no new proposals made by it yet. Speaking of the process of settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict V. Oskanian noted, "I cannot say that today we have serious progress in the talks. There are serious differences between the approaches. In spite of that an attempt is made to reconcile them." The Minister accentuated that it is extremely important to Armenia not to lose the essence of the issue - the definition of the status of Nagorno Karabakh.