April 1, 2005 - 06:46 AMT
YURI MERZLYAKOV: THERE ARE SOME NUANCES THAT CANNOT BE SETTLED WITHOUT NAGORNO KARABAKH
The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have already worked out a number of components of the Karabakh conflict settlement, OSCE MG Russian Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov stated, APA Azeri news agency reports. According to him, these proposals have been considered during the recent negotiations and there are no objections on the whole though there are certain discrepancies between the positions taken by the conflicting parties. "We are trying smooth these discrepancies and maximally bring the positions together. The parties should reach agreement on their own otherwise there will be no progress", Y. Merzlyakov considers. He also noted that at a certain state of the negotiations the parties will have to resort to trilateral format. "There are some nuances that cannot be settled with Nagorno Karabakh", he said. When touching upon the statement by Serge Sargsian, who said that Armenia's biggest concession is that she has not recognized the independence of the NKR yet and that the consent to the conduction of a referendum in Karabakh can become the major next compromise, Yuri Merzlyakov said, "We are working with executive powers of the conflicting parties and their statements are of interest to us."