Azernews.Az

BAKU – French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said it is time to adopt the principles of a settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh that would allow to launch key talks on resolving the dispute.

In a letter sent to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan ahead of Friday’s talks of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders, Sarkozy wrote that "there comes a time in history when leaders have to show their people the road to peace, courage and wisdom". "And that’s the point that the process of Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement has reached," the letter said, according to Sargsyan’s press service.

Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan held talks with their Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev’s mediation in the Russian city of Kazan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia waged a brutal war in the early 1990s. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, has been under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces since a ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks are underway on the basis of the Madrid principles, a peace outline proposed by OSCE mediators. The principles include the return of the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes.