In a statement (http://www.osce.org/item/18319.html) released following talks in Washington on March 7-8, the French, Russian, and U.S. co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group expressed regret at the lack of progress towards resolving the Karabakh conflict \"in recent weeks\" despite \"ample opportunity to do so,\" a reference to the meeting in Rambouillet last month between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The statement urged both sides to build on progress made towards a settlement during the past year. In an allusion to recent belligerent statements by President Ilham Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials, they urged both presidents to \"take steps with their publics to prepare them for peace, and not for war.\" The statement reaffirmed the co-chairs\' belief that \"objective conditions make 2006 a highly favourable year for substantial progress,\" and they appealed to the Armenian and Azerbaijani government to \"work vigorously\" to that end. The co-chairs are scheduled to meet again on March 20 in Istanbul, a venue that Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian described to the independent TV company Shant on March 10 as \"a bit strange.\" On March 11, echo-az.com quoted U.S. Ambassador to Baku Reno Harnish as saying that Ambassador Steven Mann, a U.S. Minsk Group co-chairman, will arrive in Baku on March 13 for \"consultations\" on a new round of Karabakh peace talks. (RFE/RL)