Mister Chairman,

This Council is honored today by the presence of Armenia’s Foreign Minister. We have listened carefully to his address. We wish him every success in guiding his country toward a future that features a durable peace and full integration into a stable and prosperous Caucasus region. The only path that will lead to that future is one built on trust and good neighborliness. And that must be based on mutual compromise within the framework of the Minsk Group peace process.

As one of the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group process, the United States is working closely with France and the Russian Federation to facilitate a peaceful solution to this conflict. The Co-Chairmen visited the region last month for consultations. Today they are in Warsaw for discussions with the Chairman-in-Office. They will be here in Vienna later this month to attend the Reinforced Permanent Council meeting on regional issues. At that meeting we anticipate an important discussion of practical steps toward peace in the Caucasus and Moldova. Soon thereafter, they expect to return to the region with further ideas to advance the Minsk Group peace process.

The Minsk Group process is not, and cannot be, an effort to devise peace formulas and impose them on unwilling parties. The Co-Chairmen are carefully working to build the trust and communication that will lead to compromise agreements. But success can only come if the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan do their full part, under the leadership of their elected governments. Trying to carry this confidential negotiating process into larger fora, in a futile effort to win support or to attempt to outmaneuver another party, will neither build trust nor advance the cause of peace.

OSCE's role in the Caucasus region is not limited to facilitating peace settlements, as important as that role is. The organization is continuing to expand its efforts to nourish the growth of democratic ideals and institutions in areas where this help is most needed. We welcome Minister Oskanian's strong words of support today for this goal.

We have noted Minister Oskanian's comments on OSCE's work on a Security Model. The United States is committed to completing a Charter on European Security by the 1999 summit that is worthy of that name. That document must provide the OSCE with a broad array of tools to prevent conflict and promote democracy, and it must ensure that the OSCE can be flexible and effective in cooperating with other European and transatlantic institutions. The issues raised in Minister Oskanian's statement today are important reminders that our Security Model discussions here in Vienna must be focused clearly on addressing real world problems.

Mister Chairman, we had hoped that today we could agree on Istanbul as the venue for the 1999 OSCE Summit. We are disappointed that the Armenia did not bring us good news on this subject today. We remain hopeful that the spirit of cooperation, which is the lifeblood of our organization, will still prevail and allow consensus to be reached.