Azerbaijan gave its consent
On June 5, Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in Venice, Italy, where he was attending an event marking the 20th anniversary of the Venice Commission.
"OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are likely to come up with new proposals," Azerbaijan's Emar Mammadyarov said in Venice during a meeting with journalists.
According to the the Azerbaijani FM, during the meeting with the Co-Chairs they discussed the opportunities of a meeting with the Armenian side.
"I told the Minsk Group that Azerbaijan is ready to continue meetings, if the Armenian side has a sincere desire to move on," said Mammadyarov.
Speaking about the next meeting of the two presidents, Elmar Mammadyarov noted that Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan had met in Sochi in January and decided to terminate the meetings.
"The Co-Chairs presented the presidents the updated version of the Madrid document in Athens expecting that Azerbaijan and the Armenia would react positively to those documents, as it was a result of two-year-work and meetings between the parties both at the level of foreign ministers and presidents. But the Athens meeting yilded no positive result as at the last moment the Armenian side claimed that it had some obstacles," said the Azerbaijani FM.
Mammadyarov said he understood the co-chairs' desire to strengthen the negotiating process, as there is already a document on the table prepared by representatives of the United States, France and Russia. "Azerbaijan has worked on the document and is ready to proceed. I repeat that the document was a result of two-year-work and meetings," the minister said.
He also stressed that the document has some points which the Azerbaijani side has proposed to modify.
"Using a football terminology, I can say that the ball is on the field of Armenia. Armenia must decide what to do next," Mammadyarov said.
The Azedbaijani FM underlined that Armenia needs to specify its stance.
"The co-chairs should convey the Armenian side the messages they received from the Azerbaijani side. Then, comparing the situation, the co-chairs are likely to submit their proposals," he underlined.
Regarding Matthew Bryza's appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mammadyarov said Azerbaijan expressed its apporoval of the assignment.
