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Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev described as a positive step the signing of a declaration on the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict with the Armenian and Russian leaders in Moscow on November 2.
Aliyev emphasized that the document accurately sets out the steps needed to reach a settlement to the dispute.
"These are the norms and principles of international law, and the resolutions and decisions adopted in this framework. This declaration, itself, is an important political document that determines ways of settlement referring to the very decisions of international organizations," Aliyev said while hosting participants of the international roundtable entitled "Azerbaijan in the 21st century - the strategy of success," held in Baku last week.
He noted that the declaration cites guarantees that are to be provided during the various stages in resolving the conflict. This envisions a stage-by-stage settlement process, which Azerbaijan has always insisted upon.
"Certainly, it is also an important factor that Armenia and Azerbaijan, which signed the declaration, are parties to the conflict. There are no other parties to this conflict. This has always been obvious and now this has been confirmed by the Armenian leader`s signature."
The self-proclaimed Upper Garabagh republic is seeking participation in peace talks as a party, a claim repeatedly dismissed by Baku as a blatant contradiction to international law. Azerbaijani officials have, on many occasions, made it clear that preserving the country`s territorial integrity is mandatory in reaching a solution to the Garabagh problem.
The declaration, signed following the Russia-brokered November meeting, urges further OSCE-mediated dialog between the Azerbaijani and Armenian governments. The sides were also urged to continue in joint efforts to bolster stability in the South Caucasus through a political settlement of the conflict based upon the principles of international law and earlier documents. It is the first time in nearly 15 years that such a document has been signed.
Nonetheless, the Azerbaijani leader said adopting the declaration was not, in itself, enough to reach a solution to the long-standing Garabagh dispute.
"In order to reach the correct decisions, such as to withdraw from the territories that never belonged, do not and will never belong to Armenia, to end the occupation, and to pursue a policy consistent with international norms, and, simply, with international rules of conduct, first of all, political will of the Armenian side is necessary. Then it would be possible to achieve peace in the Caucasus much sooner."
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict for over a decade. Peace talks began in 1994 after a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire but have brought few tangible results. Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law.
Vasiliy Istratov, the Russian Ambassador in Baku, did not rule out the self-styled republic`s joining peace talks in the future. He said that although the Moscow declaration contains no relevant clauses, "it does not say that this will never happen, either."
Commenting on Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian`s recent statement to that end, Istratov told reporters that the regime`s participation "was an affair of the future."
The ambassador noted that the Moscow declaration touched on all-important issues regarding ending the conflict.
"It outlines ways of settling the conflict. Azerbaijan and Armenia are cited in the document as parties in negotiations, and the sides co-signed this. As for Sarkisian`s statement, it should be merely treated as such as it has no legal force."

Garabagh status
Matthew Bryza, the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) brokering the peace process, has said holding a referendum to determine the status of Upper Garabagh was on the negotiating table.
"Holding a referendum in the future, as well as developing a mechanism for this process and its participants, is a subject of talks," Bryza told Radio Liberty`s Russian bureau.
According to Bryza, the fact that Russia was the only MG co-chairing state that co-signed the November 2 declaration demonstrates that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had sought to bolster his country`s influence in the settlement of conflicts in the turbulent South Caucasus region.
Asked whether the Armenian president was facing US pressure regarding the Garabagh settlement, Bryza said that "Armenians, themselves, should answer that question."