Press release

VIENNA, 20 November 2008 - Heikki Talvitie, the Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, said today that the Geneva talks, co-chaired by the OSCE, UN and EU, had been constructive and that the next round of talks would discuss concrete proposals.

Briefing ambassadors from the Organization's 56 participating States at the OSCE's Permanent Council, Ambassador Talvitie noted the efforts made by all sides in Geneva to maintain dialogue despite the sensitivities. He said the discussions had gone well and represented a step forward.

"The next meeting will be on 17 and 18 December, and we will already deal with concrete questions at that point," he said, adding the co-chairs would now have regular meetings with all sides to increase stability and security. "We cannot proceed in Geneva if we don't proceed on the ground."

On Nagorno-Karabakh, Talvitie said there was a new kind of optimism prevailing since the Presidents of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a document after talks near Moscow on 2 November.

On Moldova, Talvitie reported on the recent informal meetings of the co-mediators and observers in the Transdniestrian settlement process - the Russian Federation, Ukraine, the European Union and the United States - with the chief negotiators from the Republic of Moldova and the Transdniestrian region in a 5+2 format.