Erik Solheim Parties Quotations

I strongly urge the two parties to meet in Geneva on April 19 - 21 as planned.

It is of paramount importance that both parties should meet urgently and start talks toward consolidating the cease- fire agreement.

There is a tendency to wait for Norway to arrive and pull a rabbit out of a hat. There should be no doubt that it is up to the two parties to resolve (their problems), with the help of Norway and the international community.

We are working with the parties on an hour-to-hour basis to do whatever possible to bring them back to the negotiating table in Geneva as soon as possible and to put a stop to this violence.

As soon as the parties bring the peace process back on track (...) donors will be more than ready to support them.

What should be achieved is increasing confidence between the parties and agreement for a new meeting.

The parties are taking a small but very significant step towards putting the peace process back on a positive track. And we expect the negotiations to be tough.

I'm happy to announce that the parties have agreed to discuss the ceasefire agreement.

In order to keep the violence from escalating further, it is urgent to get the two parties to sit down together to discuss how to ensure that the ceasefire agreement is observed and how the peace process can be advanced.

In order to get the parties to the table it is crucial that the ceasefire is respected. If we can make some progress during my visit, I will be satisfied.

The big risk are spoilers who want to produce violence to undermine this positive effort. At the moment the parties should do their utmost to stop violence, but they should not let violent elements and spoilers derail the process.

The (hoped-for) outcome of this meeting will be some way of strengthening the agreement on the cease-fire and hopefully that parties will meet again.

It is very positive that the parties have agreed to meet at a high level to discuss how to improve the serious security situation.