Yesterday the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group Mathew Bryza, Bernard Fassier and Yuri Merzlyakov met journalists at the US Embassy. Prior to that they visited Baku and then Stepanakert. Right before the press conference they met with the RA President Serzh Sargsyan.
It is hard to say what the Armenian president and the co-chairmen were speaking about behind the closed doors, which made the latter show up to the press conference 20 minutes late. However, one thing was quite evident – the “perfect trio” was in a great mood. The US co-chairman had the greatest mood and the smile didn’t depart him till the end of the press conference despite the fact that the most attacking questions were directed to him. Before answering the questions Bryza first said that the co-chairmen will deliver some positive messages. However, it didn’t quite happen. The American diplomat also mentioned that the negotiations were quite successful. Mryza also denied all the rumors that there is some agreement, which the government of Armenian is not publicizing. Matthew Bryz was cautious not to give any precise period of time for a finalized framework agreement that the sides have been said to be inching towards and even close to signing by the end of this year. “We would like that to be the case that we are just on the very edge of the agreement being finalized, but we are not. But what I can say is that the mood between the presidents has improved significantly since the meeting November 2 in Moscow, for which we are grateful to our Russian colleagues,” Bryza said. The US negotiator denied the recent media speculations that the negotiations are months away from a big agreement and also that there is some secret protocol leading to a nontransparent set of commitments by Armenia. “That’s absolutely untrue,” Bryza said. “There can be no secret protocols… I don’t sense either president is looking at the negotiations as an opportunity to make concessions as much as a new opportunity to see the conflict from the other president’s eyes and find a way to achieve what each president needs to gain agreement of their society.” Bryza’s French and Russian counterparts similarly sounded cautiously optimistic about a future peace plan. Merzlyakov found it difficult to comment on Azerbaijan’s comments, besides he noted that as far as he knows, the Azerbaijani government does not make such statements, and those are the opinions of the media and political experts. Merzlyakov also said opinions may vary, and they see the declaration differently. At the same time, Yuri Merzlyakov said during this regional visit they met with the Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev who said their signature to the document is evidence that every country sees a positive thing in the document. Otherwise, the Russian co-chair thinks, it would be difficult to sign such a document, and the approaches towards it in Armenia and Azerbaijan would hardly be the same, let alone the third approach, that of Karabakh, which we saw, the co-chair said. Merzlyakov also reminded that the Moscow declaration does not say anything about definite solutions and decisions regarding the settlement of the issue. “The Karabakh problem can be solved only if Azerbaijan admits that the people of Karabakh have and can exercise their right to self-determination,” Sarkisian said. “And secondly, if Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia have a shared land border and the population of Nagorno-Karabakh receive strong guarantees of security.” After a meeting with Sarkisian earlier on Monday, the Minsk Group troika did not disclose the details of the discussions. “It is important to use and choose words very carefully,” Bryza explained. The Armenian reporters asked this question to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on November 17 in Yerevan. The French co-chair answered the first, noting that whenever the security of the people of Karabakh is concerned, it is taken into account that the people of Karabakh must have guarantees of security. Fassier explained what the co-chairs mean. They mean that the security of the people of Karabakh should be guaranteed by international guarantees and the agreement of Azerbaijan. The reporters asked the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs if they consider withdrawal of the Azerbaijani force from Shahumyan, Getashen, Artsvashen whenever they speak for the withdrawal of the Armenian force from the Azerbaijani territories in the talks for Karabakh. Merzlyakov said their purpose is to reach a solution acceptable to all the sides, when all the sides agree to it. Merzlyakov asked what borders are meant when the recognition of independence of Karabakh is discussed: the former autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh within Soviet Azerbaijan, in the time of declaration of independence in 1991 when Shahumyan joined it, or the current situation. Merzlyakov asks what if we speak about the NKR independence and discuss the issue of Aghdam, Martuni, Martakert, Fizuli and other territories. Merzlyakov thinks it is necessary to be realistic and display realistic approaches. In answer to the same question the French co-chair Bernard Fassier said now the problem is in the initial stage of preparation of a peace accord. According to the co-chair, unfortunately there is no agreement on the general issues but there are general principles. One day, Fassier says, all this will be discussed but now it is not the time. And in answer to the question of reporters when the co-chairs will finally ask for the opinion of the people of Karabakh without whom they say the settlement is impossible, Fassier said they already know a lot about the stance of Karabakh. According to him, it is not true that Karabakh is not participating in the talks. The French co-chair thinks the government of Karabakh meets with the government of Armenia, the co-chairs visit Karabakh. Fassier repeated that they do not visit there for the mulberry vodka only, they do serious work there. In the current stage, according to Fassier, Karabakh participates in the process as it is possible but one day both the government and people of Karabakh will have to express their opinion, and the sooner, the better, Fassier said. “It is important to use and choose words very carefully,” Bryza explained. The French cochairman, however, opened some of the brackets mainly concerning security issues. “The security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s people in the present status-quo is only depending on Nagorno-Karabakh itself and Armenia, with the strong opposition, to put it mildly, from Azerbaijan. What we have in mind to try to create for the situation in the future is to ensure that the security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s people could be provided and guaranteed by a set of complex security measures and international guarantees as well as the agreement of these measures by Azerbaijan,” Fassier said. “The people of Karabakh have to feel safe — safe from physical attack and safe from any economic pressure as well,” Bryza added. And the Russian representative, Merzlyakov, said: “The Armenian-controlled territories now play a significant role in ensuring the Karabakh population’s security. If an adequate replacement can be found, including international guarantees of security, they can be returned.” At the end in order to make his words more convincing Fassier repeated the words he had said in Karabakh two days ago, “We don’t go to Karabakh to only drink mulberry vodka. We do some serious work there.” The co-chairmen had a hard time to mention any concrete date for the regulation of the conflict but they ensured that they wished to activate the process. In the words of Merzlyakov they are now working to organizing the meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the framework of the meeting of foreign ministers of the OSCE meeting to take place in Helsinki on December 4. The Russian diplomat also mentioned that there may be moments in the process, which may play the role of obstacles. “We will do our best to withstand the appearance of such obstacles. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t exclude their organization,” he said.