YURI MERZLYAKOV: KOCHARIAN-ALIYEV MEETING TO BE HELD IN WARSAW MAY 15

The recurrent meeting of Azeri and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Robert Kocharian will take place in Warsaw on May 15, OSCE Minsk Group Russian Co-Chair Yuri Merzlyakov stated, 525 Azeri newspaper reported. In his words, on the eve of the meeting the Co-Chairs will hold a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian. To remind, the talks between the Co-Chairs and Azerbaijani FM Elmar Mamedyarov took place on April 27. When informing of the format of the Presidents’ meeting Yuri Merzlyakov said that according to the tradition the Co-Chairs will first hold a joint meeting with both Presidents to exchange opinions on the current situation. Then the Presidents will continue the meeting in private. Upon completion of the conversation the Co-Chairs will be informed of the outcomes and the parties will outline new directions of the negotiation process. Yuri Merzlyakov noted that the mediators have high expectation for the upcoming meeting. “Last time the Presidents met in September, 2004. To date, a number issues demanding discussion have accumulated. We will present the agenda of the meeting to the Presidents. They may accept it or not”, the Russian diplomat noted.