Nagorno-Karabakh

The top U.S. official for Nagorno-Karabakh talks insists that Armenia and Azerbaijan are moving closer to a framework agreement over the disputed territory, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reports. Ending a two-day visit to Yerevan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza also downplayed the significance of recent changes made to the peace proposal principles formally put forth by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group in Madrid in November 2007.

Deep and serious activities are held to reach the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Russian PM Vladimir Putin stated during his visit to Turkey, Turkish media reports.

Baku has drafted a $60-billion program for mine clearing and the return of ethnic Azeri inhabitants to the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Billed "The Great Return," the program would also devote considerable resources to resuscitating the region's economy, the Russian Regnum news agency reported on August 3.

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan plan to meet again this autumn after talks in Moscow over Nagorno-Karabakh which the Azeri side said were unproductive, officials said on Sunday.

Peter Semneby, the European Union's special representative to the South Caucasus, told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that there is "clearly momentum" to resolve the status of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Semneby added on July 15 that after the Russia-Georgia war in August "there was a sense in both Armenia and Azerbaijan that the current standoff might be more dangerous than they had estimated in the past, and that any instability in the region may have very dangerous consequences."

The visit by the French, Russian, and US co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to Yerevan and Baku may have brought a formal settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict one step closer. Meeting with the Minsk Group co-chairs on July 8 and 10, respectively, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to meet in Moscow on 17 July.

The de facto leader of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Friday demanded a role in forthcoming talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia that diplomats say could yield a breakthrough. The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Russia on July 17 in talks that could open a "new page" in negotiations in the 15-year conflict over the province of 150,000 people, a French mediator said on Wednesday.

The status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh lingers, despite international involvement, and the self-declared republic’s foreign minister talks to ISN’s Karl Rahder about the situation on the ground.

When Presidents Serzh Sarkisian of Armenia and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan meet in St. Petersburg, they are expected to reach a breakthrough on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the military phase of which was ended 15 years ago by what has become the world's longest self-maintained cease-fire. … In this context, the ultimate question is what is to happen to this no-peace, no-war situation? … (T)ere is no easy resolution, especially since both sides have what negotiators call a BATNA – the Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement. Azerbaijan believes its BATNA is war. Armenia believes its BATNA is today's status quo.

(U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew) Bryza told RFE/RL's Armenian Service that Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian made "significant progress" at their last meeting in Prague earlier this month and he "expects the same in St. Petersburg." He added that "I do believe that a breakthrough can happen at St. Petersburg or shortly thereafter."