Lord Robertson says Azerbaijan, NATO have common interests

"Azerbaijan plays a tremendous role in the Nato "Partnership for Peace" program, as both parties have common interests in establishing peace and stability in the region", Nato secretary general George Robertson, who arrived in Baku Tuesday as part of the regional trip, told President Aliyev.

President Aliyev underscored that when the Azerbaijan-Nato cooperation program was signed in 1994, the parties targeted maintaining peace in the whole region, including the Caucasus. "Unfortunately, there is still no peace in the Caucasus, as the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict has not been solved yet due to the non-constructive position of Armenia. Nato is predominantly a military entity and can define which party is to blame for a conflict. Armenia was first to launch the military aggression and the entire world community, including Nato is witnessing the injustice. I think that Nato should target setting up peace at least in Europe and conflicts in Southern Caucasus should be ended", President said.

Informing President Aliyev of the talks with the Armenian president he held Tuesday, Lord Robertson termed the Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict as a serious problem, which tells on economic and other problems in the region.

"Nato does not attend to identifying culprits in conflicts", he said, adding that the solution depends on the parties to the conflict only.

Moreover, the Nato secretary general approved of Russia's proposal to act as a guarantor of any agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia. "Nato supports all international efforts of settlement", Mr. Robertson said, pledging that Nato will continue front line monitoring.

After the one-to-one meeting, the parties held a joint briefing.*