Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – The OSCE mediators brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno (Upper) Karabakh conflict on Friday met with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian in Yerevan.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group representing Russia, France and the United States informed them about the talks held Thursday with President Ilham Aliyev and Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in Baku. Preparations for the upcoming OSCE summit in Astana were discussed as well, Armenian media reported.

The Karabakh issue will be discussed at the OSCE summit due in the Kazakh capital December 1-2.

Following their meetings in Armenia, Igor Popov of Russia and Robert Bradtke of the United States returned to Azerbaijan to report on their talks held in Yerevan.

French mediator Bernard Fassier left for Paris to inform President Nicolas Sarkozy about the course of resolving the Karabakh problem.

On Monday, all three mediators will head to Astana.

Russian co-chair Popov said that during the meetings held in Baku, the format of the talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents due on the sidelines of the Astana summit was discussed. "But this is a confidential issue, therefore, we cannot disclose the essence of the discussions."

French mediator Fassier said the format of the presidential meeting is not known at this point, but noted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will join the Astana summit.

The French co-chair declined comment on Armenian media reports saying the country’s president would not attend the Astana summit.

"I cannot even confirm the French president’s plans, so how can I answer the question whether or not the Armenian president will attend the Astana summit?"

Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war in the early 1990s, which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about a million Azerbaijanis. A cease-fire was signed, but Armenia continues to occupy Nagorno Karabakh and seven adjacent Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of a peace outline dubbed the Madrid principles. The Madrid Document covers "the return of the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijani control" and a future determination of the legal status of Nagorno Karabakh "through a legally binding expression of will" and the right of "internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their former places of residence."