Azernews.Az

BAKU – A senior Azerbaijani official has said ``slight positive changes`` were seen in Armenia’s stance during Russian-brokered talks on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict held by the two countries’ presidents on Saturday.

"Overall, it should be noted that this meeting differs to some extent -- though insignificantly -- from the position Armenia has adhered to in the negotiating process for about a year and a half. To this day the Armenian side’s stance in talks has been absolutely destructive, but now we are seeing a difference…" Novruz Mammadov, head of the Presidential Administration’s foreign relations department, told the Baku-based Trend news agency.

Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan and their Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev issued a joint statement after talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi stating their intention to "resolve all controversial issues by peaceful means". They agreed to investigate skirmishes along the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops that killed more than 20 soldiers last year, under the auspices of the OSCE mediators brokering peace talks. The presidents also agreed to swiftly finalize the exchange of prisoners of war.

Mammadov said that slight improvements in Yerevan’s stance were due to "realizing that if their stance persists, it would never benefit them and would upset their certain plans".

"The Azerbaijani side has displayed an extremely fair and constructive stance and is working to resolve the conflict peacefully and by means of negotiations. Perhaps, the Armenian side, having analyzed this, intends to make certain changes to its position."

Mammadov did not rule out that the Russian president’s vigorous effort in settling the Karabakh conflict could have an impact on Yerevan’s altering its stance.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war that ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since the war. Peace talks, brokered by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs - the United States, Russia and France - have largely accomplished no result so far.

The status of the Nagorno Karabakh region has been a stumbling block in peace talks. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees returned home, and only after that could the status of Nagorno Karabakh be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the dispute. The mediators are seeking a solution based simultaneously on both principles.