Chirac Urges Settlement Of Karabakh Conflict
French President Chirac (right) with Azerbaijani President Aliyev in February (epa)
After meeting with Aliyev, Chirac expressed support for international mediators who last week urged all sides to compromise over the enclave, which is inside Azerbaijan but has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since a war in the early 1990s.
Aliyev and Armenian President Robert Kocharian have traded hostile statements since talks between them in February in France broke down. There has also been in increase in the number of violent incidents along the border.
Speaking today at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Aliyev called Karabakh "a black hole of Europe."
(AP)
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President Putin at a Kremlin meeting in April (epa)
PUTIN SPEAKS OUT: During a January press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin said there is a need for "universal principles" to settle "frozen" conflicts in the CIS. His comments came against the background of impending talks on the future status of Kosovo, which many predict will grant it a form of "conditional independence" from Serbia and Montenegro. As an ally of Serbia, Moscow has consistently opposed the idea of Kosovar independence. Putin's remarks suggest he may be shifting his position, but only if the principles applied to Kosovo are also applied to frozen conflicts in the former Soviet Union. If Kosovo can be granted full independence, he asked, why should we deny the same to Abkhazia and South Ossetia? (more)
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