Matthew Bryza: "The issue of holding a referendum in Karabakh in the future is a subject of the negotiation process"

According to the US diplomat, the fact that the Moscow declaration is undersigned by just one co-chairing country of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, means that Russian President Dmitri Medvedev decided to stress the influence of his country in the resolution of conflicts in the South Caucasus.

Speaking of the resolution principles, Bryza noted that the co-chairs do not single out any of these principles, therefore, the Moscow declaration does not fix them directly. At the same time, the diplomat noted that the search of balance between them is underway.

Asked whether he agrees that the Armenian President is under the US pressure in the Karabakh issue, Matthew Bryza noted that this question should be put to Armenians.

"As for the Armenian President, the United States recognize the results of elections and recognize Serzh Sargsyan as a president. He is leading the country and we must work with him. It is for people to decide whether the documents, he signed, are appropriate for them. I can only note that he is quite a principal and reasonable negotiator. The same with President Aliyev: he will not agree to any variant, inadmissible for the peoples of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. He is a wise person and in this connection I do not have concerns that he is under pressure", Bryza noted.

Commenting on the opinion of deputy US Secretary of state Daniel Fried that the signing of an agreement on the Karabakh conflict may occur by the end of this year, the co-chairman said that "this is possible". At the same time, he noted that he does not expect similar things. "There is no need to accelerate the negotiation process, I think", noted he.

/ARMENIA-Today/