Ian Bremmer: the framework agreement on Karabakh practically ready

Regnum, Russia
Feb 12 2006

New York, 11 February 2006 (Regnum - website) - The US State Department has great expectations concerning the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev in Rambouillet (France). On Thursday, an unnamed official of the US State Department called the meeting the most important event in the talks on Nagorno Karabakh for the last five years. Analysts say, in 2006 a breakthrough will be reached in settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict that has lasted for 18 years. The hopes are backed by a recent stirring up in searching for settlement and by optimistic hints of the parties and mediators' representatives, reports BBC.

Answering the question whether a breakthrough is possible in solving `one of the most bloody conflicts in the post-Soviet territory,' spokesman for the Eurasia Group (New York), which assesses risks in conflict zones, Ian Bremmer said: `Talking to officials of Bush administration, it becomes clear that the parties are close to reaching a preliminary agreement. It seems to me, a framework agreement is practically ready.' As Bremmer thinks, the agreement on Nagorno Karabakh status can become the basis for the breakthrough. However, as the source says, if we judge from hard-edged statements by Aliyev and Kocharyan, and belligerent publications in Azerbaijani and Armenian press, it would be uneasy to reach such an agreement, reports PanARMENIAN.Net.