Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan has reportedly claimed Azerbaijan is dragging out talks on resolving the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Nalbandyan was commenting on his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov’s recent statement that it is "meaningless" to waste time on agreeing basic principles of a conflict settlement and time has come to begin drafting a peace accord.

"This approach of Azerbaijan is an attempt to back down from the basic principles proposed by the co-chairs [of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group] and, essentially, to derail the negotiating process of the recent years," Nalbandyan alleged while addressing the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, Russian Interfax news agency quoted the Armenian foreign ministry as saying.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister had said Baku offers Yerevan to begin drafting a peace accord "without delay". "I believe some progress has been made and we can conveniently start drafting a peace agreement," he said. Asked when Azerbaijan could start negotiating a peace accord with Armenia, Mammadyarov said "right now".

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 Armenian armed forces since a fragile ceasefire was signed in 1994. Peace talks are underway on the basis of the Basic Principles, a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs. 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 to return home.