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U.S. ENVOY QUESTIONS ARMENIAN, AZERI COMMITMENT TO PEACE
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24295392.html
Aug 12 2011
Robert Bradtke, the chief U.S. negotiator in the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process, has reportedly cast doubt on Armenia's and Azerbaijan's
stated commitment to hammering out a compromise peace deal.
"We [the United States, Russia and France] share the wish that there
be no war. But do the parties have the political will?" Bradtke was
on Thursday quoted by "The Washington Post" as saying.
Bradtke co-chairs the OSCE's Minsk Group on Karabakh together with
fellow diplomats from France and Russia. The troika regularly visits
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh to try to narrow the conflicting
parties' differences on a framework peace accord drafted by them.
In a joint statement issued in late May, the U.S., French and Russian
presidents urged their Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts to
finalize the basic principles of a peaceful settlement. "Further
delay would only call into question the commitment of the sides to
reach an agreement," they warned.
Despite this pressure, Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev
failed to iron out their differences at their June 24 trilateral
meeting in Kazan with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev.
Official Yerevan says Aliyev scuttled a breakthrough by demanding
about a dozen last-minute changes in the latest version of the basic
principles. Azerbaijani officials have not explicitly denied these
claims.
Bradtke sounded cautious about prospects for Karabakh peace when he
last visited the conflict zone with the Russian and French co-chairs
late last month. "We'll see over the coming weeks the results of the
efforts that have been made," he told journalists in Yerevan.
Later in July, Alexander Vershbow, the U.S. assistant secretary
of defense for international security affairs, expressed concern
about what he reportedly described as a "dangerous stalemate" in the
international efforts to end the Karabakh dispute.
Armenialiberty.org
http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/24295392.html
Aug 12 2011
Robert Bradtke, the chief U.S. negotiator in the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process, has reportedly cast doubt on Armenia's and Azerbaijan's
stated commitment to hammering out a compromise peace deal.
"We [the United States, Russia and France] share the wish that there
be no war. But do the parties have the political will?" Bradtke was
on Thursday quoted by "The Washington Post" as saying.
Bradtke co-chairs the OSCE's Minsk Group on Karabakh together with
fellow diplomats from France and Russia. The troika regularly visits
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Karabakh to try to narrow the conflicting
parties' differences on a framework peace accord drafted by them.
In a joint statement issued in late May, the U.S., French and Russian
presidents urged their Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts to
finalize the basic principles of a peaceful settlement. "Further
delay would only call into question the commitment of the sides to
reach an agreement," they warned.
Despite this pressure, Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev
failed to iron out their differences at their June 24 trilateral
meeting in Kazan with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev.
Official Yerevan says Aliyev scuttled a breakthrough by demanding
about a dozen last-minute changes in the latest version of the basic
principles. Azerbaijani officials have not explicitly denied these
claims.
Bradtke sounded cautious about prospects for Karabakh peace when he
last visited the conflict zone with the Russian and French co-chairs
late last month. "We'll see over the coming weeks the results of the
efforts that have been made," he told journalists in Yerevan.
Later in July, Alexander Vershbow, the U.S. assistant secretary
of defense for international security affairs, expressed concern
about what he reportedly described as a "dangerous stalemate" in the
international efforts to end the Karabakh dispute.