Declaration signed following Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents' talks - UPDATE

The parties have signed a declaration, which envisages the return of prisoners of war and takes a humanitarian nature, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday after the trilateral meeting in Astrakhan.

"These are not ordinary meetings, they take place in hard polemics. I consider them positive, because negotiation is better than conflict," said Medvedev.

The fact that today the parties signed a joint agreement - a declaration aimed at exchange of prisoners of war and the return of the dead bodies - can be considered a progress," he said.

Medvedev said the conflicting sides have not been in open confrontation for long, but people are losing their lives.

"For this purpose, as a first step without delay, the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to conduct the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of the dead bodies with the assistance of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen and the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as to follow these approaches in the future, based solely on the humanitarian nature of these issues," the document says.

According to Medvedev, by the OSCE summit, Azerbaijan and Armenia can reach an agreed solution on the principles for the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.

Negotiations are a move forward and better than the active phase of the conflict. The special declaration is aimed at strengthening confidence-building measures," Medvedev said.

"The parties have agreed that now questions have left, which subsequently must be the basis for a peace agreement," he said.

According to Medvedev, the conflicting sides have made a way that allows to hope that if they work (such instructions have been given to the foreign ministers), by the OSCE summit in Astana on Dec. 1-2, Azerbaijan and Armenia will be able to reach an agreed version of the general settlement principles.

There are many questions, but, according to the President, the parties have a desire to agree upon a solution. "Russia will continue its efforts to resolve the conflict, and I believe that the result will be reached," said Medvedev.


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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev unveiled a monument to national leader Heydar Aliyev in Astrakhan`s Naberezhnaya Privolzhskogo Zatona street on October 27.

Joined by Astrakhan governor Alexander Zhilkin, the Azerbaijani President unveiled the 7.2m-height bronze monument made by Natig Aliyev, an Azerbaijani People`s Artist.
Prior to the ceremony the Azerbaijani leader and the Astrakhan governor made remarks to praise national leader Heydar Aliyev`s role in developing Astrakhan and strengthening the Azerbaijan-Russia relations.

The unveiling ceremony was attended by Astrakhan officials, members of the general public and Azerbaijan`s diaspora.

The President spoke to members of the Azerbaijani diaspora, calling them to be more actively involved in construction work in the region.

President Ilham Aliyev then viewed a park around the monument.

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October 27
17:45

A trilateral meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia - Ilham Aliyev, Dmitry Medvedev and Serzh Sargsyan, began in Astrakhan. The ways of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are being discussed at the meeting. Spokesperson for the Russian President Natalia Timakova said that it does not worth waiting for any sensations.

"The processes will be analyzed with the participation of the parties of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict", Timakova told media.

This is the third meeting of the presidents in a trilateral format. The presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia met last time in St. Petersburg in June. The presidents met in Sochi in January in this format earlier.


/Trend, AzerTAc/


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