Azernews.Az

MOSCOW – Azerbaijan and Armenia have positively assessed the talks on (Upper) Nagorno Karabakh conflict held between the two countries’ leaders in Russia with President Dmitry Medvedev’s mediation on Wednesday.

"We highly assess direct talks, taking place along with negotiations in the OSCE Minsk Group format, including those with the Russian president’s mediation, said Ali Hasanov, head of the Azerbaijan Presidential Administration socio-political department.

"We think that any means, any shape or format should be used in resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Any proposal expediting a solution of the issue should be discussed."

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for two decades. OSCE-brokered peace talks kicked off after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a shaky cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces continue to occupy over 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory. Peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

Hasanov termed the joint statement on swapping prisoners of war the bodies of soldiers killed in clashes, signed by Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan after talks in the Russian city of Astrakhan, as a positive outcome of the discussions.

Armenia holds two Azerbaijani prisoners, one civilian and two dead bodies. Six Armenian servicemen and a family of five people as well as one dead body are held in Azerbaijan, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Baku office.

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has regarded the trilateral meeting as "important and beneficial". Novosti Armenii news agency quoted him as saying that the parties affirmed commitment to the clauses of the Meindorf Declaration signed in Moscow in November 2008 and stressed the importance of confidence-building measures for a negotiated settlement of the Karabakh conflict and taking additional steps to reinforce the ceasefire.

"The presidents have instructed their foreign ministers to continue holding talks and to reach agreement on the basic principles [of the conflict resolution] by the OSCE summit in Astana."

President Medvedev told a press conference following the meeting with Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan that the document on basic conflict settlement principles, referred to as the Madrid principles, could be agreed by the OSCE summit, which is due December 1-2.