Question: Yesterday during the G8 Summit in Canada the presidents of the US, France and Russia made a statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. How would you comment that statement?

Answer: We commend the desire and consistent efforts of the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries- Russia, the USA and France, in supporting the sides to bring their positions closer and move forward with the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

It is important that the statement, made in the sidelines of the G8 Summit in Canada, in making a reference to the elements proposed in connection with the L’Aquila statement from 10 July 2009, is re-endorsing those principles which had several times been proclaimed by Armenia as basic principles for the conflict settlement. They are- the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh must be determined by a legally-binding expression of will of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, which means a recognition to realize the right to self-determination by the people of Nagorno-Karabakh; there must be a permanent land linkage between Armenia and Artsakh; and international security guarantees must be ensured.

The elements of the Madrid proposals mentioned in the statement remind of the published principles of the Madrid document in connection with the L’Aquila statement. While, more than two years ago Armenia stated, that it accepted, recognized the Madrid document as a basis for negotiations.

The leaders of Co-Chair countries point out that in the negotiations based on the Madrid proposals of 2007 a significant step, yet another phase was particularly registered during the meeting held exactly 10 days ago in Saint Petersburg, where the sides concluded what they had achieved up until now as a result of meetings and agreed to continue the negotiations on this basis.

The upcoming days will show whether Azerbaijan is ready to move by that route or whether it would continue its bellicose stance attempting to fail the negotiation process through new provocations and unconstructive steps.

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