ArmInfo.The Bratislava statements of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are evidence of the continued relevance of the Madrid principles, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh Arman Melikyan expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo.
On December 4, in Bratislava, within the framework of the OSCE Ministerial Council, this year already the fifth meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict was held. Following the meeting, which lasted 3.5 hours, the ministers agreed to hold another meeting early next year.
"In any case, the analysis of public statements by ministers in Bratislava leads to this conclusion. It seems that Armenia and Azerbaijan continue to construct their own approaches in the negotiation process, without leaving the framework and logic of the Madrid principles. And here the Armenian side of the negotiations needs to change the situation, first of all, given, in general, considering harmony between the approaches of Baku and these principles, "he stressed. According to the diplomat, the basis for the position of Baku is an approach that defines Armenia as an aggressor state that has occupied 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan. In this light, Baku links the automatic resolution of the conflict exclusively with the withdrawal of Armenian forces from its own, in its understanding, territories.
Meanwhile, Yerevan, according to his estimates, to this day has not been able to clearly formulate its own negotiation approaches within the framework of the same Madrid principles. Moreover, to do it in such a way that the need to preserve Artsakh within its existing borders does not conflict with the future recognition of its status. "In other words, the wording of Armenia's position in the negotiation process does not leave any chance to have any expectations on the prospects for Artsakh gaining independence or reuniting with Armenia within its current borders. The current Armenian authorities have succeeded no more than their predecessors. Meanwhile, steps in this direction are "an absolute necessity," the diplomat concluded. Since 1992, the OSCE Minsk Group, represented by the co-chairs from Russia, the USA and France, has been engaged in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. Currently, the settlement process is nominally taking place on the basis of the Madrid Principles put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in 2007 and updated in 2009.