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Bernard Fassier: Final document will not be signed at the St. Petersburg meeting of the presidents

16 May 2009 08:56 (UTC +04:00)

He said that the co-chairs decided to continue working on the issue as soon as possible. Bernard Fassier said American co-chair Matthew Bryza will visit the region to advance the process on the eve of the St. Petersburg meeting and Russian co-chair Yuri Merzlyakov will make preparations for the St. Petersburg meeting. Asked whether the process of negotiations will end and any document will be signed in the upcoming meeting, Bernard Fassier said the process of negotiations is a long process and underlined that it is impossible to sign final document in the St. Petersburg.
â€œThe process will end when the presidents are ready to sign peace agreement. We are still at the beginning of the process. The co-chairs have proposals to be put to discussion during the presidentsâ€™ meetings. It depends on the presidents when these meetings will be held and the peace agreement will be signed. We had better confirm compromise on three items and pass the other items. The text of the agreement can be prepared after all the proposals are agreed on. The draft agreement can be signed after the discussions,â€ he said.

To the question â€œHow much time is required for the final solution of the conflict?â€ Fassier said.
â€œI hope the final solution of this problem will be, for instance, earlier than the conflict in the Near East. The talks between Israel and Palestine have been lasting for over half a century,â€ he said.

Leaving Baku for Ankara French diplomat underlined that he will have discussions with Turkish officials.
â€œThis is one of the usual discussions between the members of the Minsk Group France and Turkey. We will discuss all current issues. There have recently been many visits from Turkey to Azerbaijan. We will discuss them,â€ he said.
Bernard Fassier said normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations should not be confused with Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
â€œThese are different and parallel processes,â€ he said.