“The Minsk Group co-chairs usually exchange views on the negotiating process over the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, and inform the conflicting sides about their conclusions only in the meeting with either Foreign Minister or with President,” Director of Azeri President’s Office Department of International Relations Novruz Mammadov stated. According to him, after a 20 March meeting in Washington, the co-chairs have not suggested organizing a meeting of the Foreign Ministers. “It seems, there is nothing to inform about it for the time being,” “I think the current format is one of the optimal formats. As coming to inclusion of any other country into the group, there will be a need to agree it with the opposite side, which will be a long process then,” Mr. Mammadov stated.
As of Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov refusing to inform journalists about the talks in Rambouillet, participation of another Russian diplomat in Istanbul talks instead of him, Mammadov said that Russia has the right to replace the co-chair. “As of his [Merzlyakov’s] refusal from the briefings, before the talks in Rambouillet he often made statements, which did not reflect the actual state of affairs. Thus, probably, Mr. Merzlyakov does a right thing, when he does not make unnecessary statements,” Mammadov said, reports APA.
