New stage in Azeri-Armenian talks

According to official reports, the face-to-face Paris negotiations between Azeri and Armenian presidents, as well as talks joined by French president Jacques Chirac, mainly concerned issues of a peace settlement of the Garabagh conflict. The parties confirmed the need for carrying on the meetings and voiced a hope for compromising ways in breaking the deadlock.

The two presidents have agreed that the countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group need to step up their effort toward resolving the problem.

The absence of more detailed information about the talks has led many to remain content with behind-the-scenes sources and brief statements by interested parties. For example, Armenian foreign minister V. Oskanian has been quoted as saying briefly that the talks have not yielded any fruit.

Also speculated upon is the conclusion that the recent visit to Baku by Russian Security Council secretary was connected with Moscow-proposed solution alternative - to liberate several Azeri provinces from Armenian occupation and to station UN-mandate Russian troops on the frontline. This would be perfectly acceptable both for Armenians and Russians.

However, most of the comments concern a statement by Armenian President Kocharian made prior to the direct talks in Strasbourg. The statement spelt out three preconditions put forward by Yerevan. The first seeks recognition of all parties to the conflict, which means an actual independence of Upper Garabagh, the second defines the impossibility of Garabagh being an enclave within Azerbaijan, which automatically signifies annexation of the Lachin corridor and probably even the Kalbajar province of Azerbaijan, and third requires security guarantees for Upper Garabagh population to be provided by the international community, which envisions its actual secession from Azerbaijan. It is clear that all of these rule out the possibility of a compromise.*