Merzlyakov: "No framework agreement on Karabakh bargaining table"

Merzlyakov said mediators have offered the parties to coordinate the problem settlement principles prior to developing the agreement on their basis. Besides, co-chairmen do not use in negotiation process such terms as 'stage-by-stage', 'package', 'universal' and so on, Merzlyakov remarked.

The further state of the negotiation process, the Russian diplomat went on, will get defined after the first regional visit of Matthew Bryza as US co-chairman of OSCE Minsk Group.

"At the moment I am just not ready to state the situation. It will get clear when he comes there and listens to the parties' opinions," he added. Merzlyakov added that Bryza's visit to the region had been originally scheduled to later July or early September.

Answering the question about the preparation to the next meeting between foreign ministers or presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Merzlyakov said: "The co-chairmen's latest statement says the parties shall put forward their initiatives. We are always alongside, we ill always help. But in the coming months we are not going to undertake anything."

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