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Armenian-Azerbaijani talks on Nagorny-Karabach fail in France

PARIS, Feb 11, 2006 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- The presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia ended Saturday their two-day talks in Rambouillet chateau south of Paris, without reaching any agreement on the Nagorny- Karabakh conflict.

The mediators of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co- operation in Europe) Minsk group -- Russia, United States, France - - announced that the negotiations had made no progress and that the issue was to be reexamined at the beginning of March in Washington.

"In spite of intense discussions, the parties' stand over some sensitive principles remained the same as what they had in recent months," the mediators said in a statement.

It also said that the presidents had ordered their ministers to explore new ways in view of a future settlement.

Russian, French and American mediators will meet at the beginning of March in Washington to negotiate among their three countries and examine the modalities of their future discussions with the ministers, the statement said, without giving further details.

The conflict started from February 1988, when the local assembly of Nagorno-Karabakh made a decision to secede from Azerbaijan and unite with Armenia. A total of 25,000 people died and hundreds of thousands others fled the enclave between 1988 and 1994. In spite of a ceasefire agreement signed in 1994, clashes remain frequent at the borders.