Following talks in Ankara on 9 December with Turkish leaders, the U.S. and French co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group travelled the following day to the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan, where they were joined by their Russian counterpart. The three men then flew to Yerevan, where they met on 11 December with Armenian President Robert Kocharian to discuss how to resolve the Karabakh conflict, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. French co-chair Jean-Jacques Gaillard termed that meeting "encouraging," while U.S. co-chair Carey Cavanuagh told journalists the talks were "very productive," adding that "the impression we have now is that all conflicting parties want to move forward and get a concrete result as soon as possible." Kocharian, for his part, was quoted by his press service as insisting that "the conflict must be resolved on the basis of equality between the parties." LF
...AND KARABAKH AND BAKU

The co-chairs travelled by helicopter on 11 December from Yerevan to Stepanakert, the capital of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Noyan Tapan and a correspondent in Stepanakert for RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported. The unrecognized enclave's president, Arkadii Ghukasian, told the co-chairs during a three-hour meeting that he is concerned at what the Karabakh leadership perceives as a slackening in the pace of the negotiating process. He also argued that Karabakh representatives should participate in the ongoing series of talks between Kocharian and Azerbaijan's President Heidar Aliev. Following talks with Aliev later the same day in Baku, the co-chairs announced that the Armenian and Azerbaijani defense ministers will meet on the border between Armenia and Nakhichevan on 15 December to discuss measures to preclude further violations of the cease-fire that took effect in the spring of 1994, ITAR-TASS reported. Cavanaugh added that Turkey will play "an important role" in implementing the peace agreement once it is reached and that Ankara has promised to provide economic assistance in developing the region, according to Turan. LF

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