The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are due to meet in Geneva on March 13-14.
Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan, Oskanian said the OSCE Minsk Group of international mediators wants the foreign ministers to prepare the ground for a meeting between Armenian President Robert Kocharian and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, in May.
"They want the presidents to meet as soon as possible after the parliamentary elections [in Armenia on May 12]," Oskanian said. "Because of this they want some progress at the ministerial level before the presidents meet."
The predominantly ethnic-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh lies inside Azerbaijan's borders. Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a war over the enclave from 1988 until a 1994 cease-fire.
(with material from Interfax)
A Precarious Balance
Richard Giragosian at RFE/RL on May 25 (RFE/RL)
SECURITY SLIPPING AWAY?: On May 25, RFE/RL's Prague broadcasting center hosted a talk by RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN titled, "The Military Balance In The South Caucasus And Nagorno-Karabakh." Giragosian, a Washington-based analyst of international relations in the former Soviet Union, concentrated on the military balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan as the two countries continue to increase defense spending. Girogosian argued that corruption is the main threat to the national security of both countries. He also commented on other security issues in the South Caucasus, Iran, elsewhere.
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Listen to the entire briefing (about 60 minutes):Real Audio Windows Media
Selected Articles By Richard Giragosian:
Nagorno-Karabakh: Peace May Depend On Military Situation
Georgia: Gas Cutoff Highlights National Security Flaws
Azerbaijan: Has Government Taken A Troubling Example From Andijon?
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For an archive of RFE/RL's coverage of Nagorno-Karabakh, click here.
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