YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed on the need for further confidence-building measures in the protracted search for peace in Karabakh as they held a fresh round of talks in Russia, RFE.RL reported.
Serzh Sarkisian and Ilham Aliyev reportedly reaffirmed their commitment to finding a negotiated settlement to the conflict after their meeting on Wednesday and said that an exchange of prisoners-of-war and bodies of those killed in recent skirmishes is required as a major confidence-building measure to move forward in negotiations.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hosted the meeting of the two presidents in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan.
Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted Medvedev as telling the media after the talks that in a special declaration aimed at building confidence the parties had agreed on “an exchange of prisoners-of-war and bodies of those killed.”
The three presidents issued a statement on the results of their talks, “confirming the clauses of the joint Declaration signed in Moscow on November 2, 2008” and “emphasizing that the settlement of the conflict through political and diplomatic means requires further efforts on strengthening the ceasefire regime and confidence-building measures in the military sphere.”
The document says that “for this purpose the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed, as the first step, to urgently conduct an exchange of prisoners-of-war and the return of the bodies of killed people with the assistance of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group and the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
They also reportedly stated their commitment “to be guided by these approaches in the future, proceeding exclusively from the humanitarian nature of such issues.”
According to Medvedev, the two leaders also agreed to come to an agreement on the principles of settlement for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict before the OSCE summit in Astana in early December.
“We have addressed the issue today and come to an agreement. Now we have to discuss the principles of settlement that should lay in the basis of the peace treaty,” Medvedev was quoted by RIA Novosti as sayin. “Nevertheless, we have come a long way, which provides a good ground to hope that the basic principles of settlement could be coordinated before the OSCE summit in Kazakhstan on December 1-2.”
The declaration in Astrakhan comes amid intensified armed clashes on the line-of-contact between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
On the eve of the talks, Armenia accused Azerbaijani forces of killing an ethnic Armenian soldier in Nagorno-Karabakh in a bid to disrupt peace talks.
Earlier, Yerevan said Baku still holds the body of an Armenian captive who died under disputed circumstances in Azeri custody earlier this month.
Officials in Baku, meanwhile, have been seeking the return of the body of an Azerbaijani soldier killed in a firefight in Karabakh a few months ago.
A report posted on the Armenian president’s official website on Wednesday said that in Astrakhan, the presidents “discussed details of the process of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement for the purpose of continuing the negotiations work till the OSCE summit to be held in Astana and for reaching a mutual agreement on the basic principles.”
“An arrangement was made on the exchange of prisoners-of-war and the bodies of killed persons according to a humanitarian principle,” the report added.
The last time Medvedev hosted a meeting between Sarkisian and Aliyev was on June 17 and within just over 24 hours after that meeting a major ceasefire violation occurred on the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Karabakh-Armenian armed forces, with four Armenian and one Azerbaijani soldiers reportedly killed in the firefight.
The situation around Karabakh has remained volatile since that incident, with skirmishes reported virtually every day. Both sides have suffered more than a dozen confirmed military casualties in recent months.
According to the information reported by the Armenian president’s press service, before the trilateral meeting President Sarkisian visited an Armenian monument in the center of Astrakhan and laid a flower basket at the khachkar (cross stone), which was erected in the Russian city in the 1930s in the place of a destroyed Armenian church. The stone cross was meant to perpetuate the memory of the Armenian church that was built in Astrakhan in 1706.
The spiritual leader of Astrakhan’s Armenian St. Hripsime church, representatives of the local authorities as well as the local Armenian community reportedly accompanied the Armenian president.
Meanwhile, President Aliyev attended the opening of a monument to his late father Heydar, who served as Azerbaijan’s president in 1993-2003 and is still held as national hero in the South Caucasus country.
BAD–> WORSE—>CATASTROPHIC
The policy of Levon regarding peace takes with Azerbaijan was “BAD”: simply because not only Levon did fail to sign a peace treaty shortly after signing of cease fire but he made Azerbaijani authorities wrong hopes, by making irresponsible speeches, while resigning and so on ( he made and still he is doing attempts to justify his failure “)
The policy of Robert was “WORSE)… forcing NKR out of negation process, strength of Oligarchy system and so on
The policy of Serzh Sarkisian is just CATASTROPHIC !
Azerbaijani snipers or saboteur did killer 4 -5 Armenian solders, despite cease fire and immediatelyafter peace negotions in Sankt Petersburg . The body of Azerbaijani sniper/saboteur remains on neutral territory. The criminal is being declared national hero in Azerbaijan.. Later Azerbaijani authorities allowing the kidnapping of a young Armenian shepherd..Finally hanging him in Baku ,in order to be able or to force to exchange of “bodies”and blackmailing Armenia. After all these criminal action President Sarkisan is traveling to Astrakhan and jointly with Russian President and Azerbaijani president agreeing on a joint statement to return “return of the bodies of the killed.” … By agreeing to such a statement and action Armenian President indeed approved the criminal action of Azerbaijani authorities!
President Sarkisian could show respect to the family of fallen Armenian solders and executed young Armenian by demanding (at least demand ) NO live pictures from this show and so on !
This can’t be right. Aliev is for ever the war monger shouting off the roof tops that he is strengthenning his military position by spending over $3b. Who is he buying these guns and bullets to use against. Armenians of course. We also should stop thinking that Russia will aford us protection. Russia is only interested in Russia as most empire building nations. Why can’t Sarkisian see that. All these agreements don’t mean a jot. We must NOT give up our ancestral lands and the buffer areas around Artsax.
its is time to change this derty poletic.u r right hrair ,sinds the endibendent we have a very bad polecy .from levon to serj. they are doing nothing, just spending time.armenia must recognize artsakh directly, so colled they are asking forigen countries to recognize artsakh ,but they dont do it .
big shame amot zes 1000 amot.
Sarkisian is signed one non sense declaration after another one… All these “declarations” have an official character and are good for the Azerbaijani side. Since thanks to the “efforts” and grave mistakes of current Armenian government Armenia becomes the only conflict side … Karabakh/Arstakh has nothing to say… ! Turkey and his friends are pushing Armenia – step by step- through an anti Armenian and anti Karabakh peace agreement, in order to save the „Turkish Armenian „ protocols !
They must never return the body of that dead azeri. in no case. if serj does it, he’s completly done.
I mean you don’t wanna return the body of a diverionist who killed 4 armenians so that they can worship it??!!