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Interfax, Russia
February 6, 2013 Wednesday 4:04 PM MSK
Karabakh conflict cannot be settled quickly but there is progress -
Duma chairman
PARIS. Feb 6
A referendum issue regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh status is the
stumbling block hampering the conclusion of a peace treaty between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, but this issue can be resolved, Russian State
Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin said.
"The conflict has gone too far to be settled quickly and easily,"
Naryshkin said at a meeting with French National Assembly members
during his working visit to Paris on Wednesday.
He categorically disagreed with a French parliamentarian's opinion
about the negotiating format involving Russian Prime Minister Dmitry
Medvedev, Enhanced Coverage LinkingDmitry Medvedev, -Search
using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 DaysAzeri President
Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. "You call the
Medvedev-Aliyev-Sargsyan negotiating forum a failure. I disagree with
such a judgment," he said.
Naryshkin called for looking at the situation realistically and not
expecting its quick settlement.
The tripartite talks on Nagorno-Karabakh have achieved certain results
and laid some groundwork for eventually settling the conflict,
Naryshkin said. "Some results do exist, and they are quite good," he
said.
Leonid Slutsky, a member of the Russian delegation and the head of the
Duma committee on CIS affairs and relations with fellow-countrymen,
suggested that the fact that there is no war in Nagorno-Karabakh at
the moment is the most significant result of the efforts to settle the
conflict.
There is a draft peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, but only two
or three of its provisions have so far been agreed upon, he said.
The first step of the treaty is aimed at clearing the districts
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh of armed forces, Slutsky said.
However, the main provision of the document concerns a referendum,
"and this is a stumbling block," Slutsky said.
In drawing up relevant proposals on the draft treaty, the parties were
guided by France's experience in holding referendums, he said.
Slutsky insisted there are reasons to expect progress in settling the
problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. "I hope it is possible to set things in
motion and advance on the treaty's provision regarding a referendum by
the end of the year," he said.
va jv
February 6, 2013 Wednesday 4:04 PM MSK
Karabakh conflict cannot be settled quickly but there is progress -
Duma chairman
PARIS. Feb 6
A referendum issue regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh status is the
stumbling block hampering the conclusion of a peace treaty between
Armenia and Azerbaijan, but this issue can be resolved, Russian State
Duma Chairman Sergei Naryshkin said.
"The conflict has gone too far to be settled quickly and easily,"
Naryshkin said at a meeting with French National Assembly members
during his working visit to Paris on Wednesday.
He categorically disagreed with a French parliamentarian's opinion
about the negotiating format involving Russian Prime Minister Dmitry
Medvedev, Enhanced Coverage LinkingDmitry Medvedev, -Search
using:Biographies Plus NewsNews, Most Recent 60 DaysAzeri President
Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. "You call the
Medvedev-Aliyev-Sargsyan negotiating forum a failure. I disagree with
such a judgment," he said.
Naryshkin called for looking at the situation realistically and not
expecting its quick settlement.
The tripartite talks on Nagorno-Karabakh have achieved certain results
and laid some groundwork for eventually settling the conflict,
Naryshkin said. "Some results do exist, and they are quite good," he
said.
Leonid Slutsky, a member of the Russian delegation and the head of the
Duma committee on CIS affairs and relations with fellow-countrymen,
suggested that the fact that there is no war in Nagorno-Karabakh at
the moment is the most significant result of the efforts to settle the
conflict.
There is a draft peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan, but only two
or three of its provisions have so far been agreed upon, he said.
The first step of the treaty is aimed at clearing the districts
surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh of armed forces, Slutsky said.
However, the main provision of the document concerns a referendum,
"and this is a stumbling block," Slutsky said.
In drawing up relevant proposals on the draft treaty, the parties were
guided by France's experience in holding referendums, he said.
Slutsky insisted there are reasons to expect progress in settling the
problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. "I hope it is possible to set things in
motion and advance on the treaty's provision regarding a referendum by
the end of the year," he said.
va jv