Lavrov: There is a document on the negotiating table at the moment  suggesting a phased settlement of the Karabakh conflict

ArmInfo. There is a document now on the negotiating table suggesting a phased settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov  announced on April 21 during an online round table organized by the  Gorchakov Foundation, referring to UN Security Council resolutions on  the Karabakh conflict.

"The resolutions that were adopted are well-known documents. They  were adopted in the midst of hostilities and suggested, first of all,  the complete cessation of hostilities and the transition to  negotiations.  These documents confirmed the territorial integrity of  the Republic of Azerbaijan. But, they also called for stopping war  and start negotiations. Since then, they have begun negotiations,  more than once. There were agreements for negotiations in Key West  from 2001, there were subsequent agreements in various formats,  reached with the participation of Karabakh, or without it. The format  of the Baku-Yerevan negotiations, the three co-chairs of the OSCE  Minsk Group and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-  Office has already been established, "Lavrov emphasized, adding that  this is a useful and good format that embodied the UN Security  Council's demand to end the war and begin to agree.

He once again reminded that there are Madrid agreements, there are  documents prepared by the Russian side in 2010-11, the so-called  Kazan Principles, and there are projects that were distributed a year  ago, in April last year, in Moscow at the meeting of the Foreign  Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia with the participation of  the co-chairs, which are now being actively discussed.

"These documents presuppose progress towards a settlement on the  basis of a phased approach, assuming at the first stage the solution  of the most pressing problems, the liberation of a number of areas  around Nagorno-Karabakh and the unblocking of transport, economic,  and other communications. So, I'm convinced that when we come to a  decision on the signing of these documents it will be the most  important step in implementing UN Security Council resolutions that  called for an end to the war and the start of an agreement. Now its  time to reach agreement and we as OSCE MG co-chairs aim to this, "the  Russian minister summed up.

It should be noted that the previous authorities of Armenia insisted  on not a phased, but a comprehensive settlement of the Karabakh  conflict based on well-known principles of territorial integrity, the  right of peoples to self-determination and non-use of force.

It should also be noted that today the next talks between the Foreign  Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be held through the  mediation of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group in a video  conference format.