PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA AND RUSSIA SIGN DECLARATION ON NAGORNO-KARABAKH

ISRIA
Nov 3
DC

On November 2, following their trilateral meeting at the Russian
leader`s Mayendorf residence in Moscow, Presidents Ilham Aliyev of
Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia
signed a joint Declaration on Nagorno-Karabakh.

President Dmitry Medvedev acquainted journalists with the text of
the Declaration.

The document says: "We have discussed – in an atmosphere of
constructiveness – comprehensively and in detail the state and
prospects of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through political
means and through continuing a direct dialogue between Azerbaijan
and Armenia mediated by Russia, the USA and France in the capacity
of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group."

The Presidents "declare that they will contribute to improving the
situation in the South Caucasus and ensuring stability and security
in the region through finding – on the basis of the principles
and norms of the international law as well as the resolutions and
documents adopted within this framework – a political solution to
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that will create favorable conditions
for economic development and overall cooperation in the region."

Presidents Ilham Aliyev, Serzh Sargsyan and Dmitry Medvedev "reiterate
the importance of continuing the mediation efforts by the OSCE Minsk
Group Co-Chairs, taking into account their meeting with the sides
in Madrid on November 29, 2007 and the following talks, to further
develop the basic principles of the political settlement."

The three leaders agreed that "a peaceful settlement must be
accompanied by legally binding international guarantees of all its
aspects and stages."

The Declaration points out that the Presidents of Azerbaijan and
Armenia "have agreed to continue the work – including during their
following high-level contacts – on coordinating efforts towards
political settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and have
instructed their foreign ministers to intensify further steps in the
talks process in collaboration with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

The final paragraph of the Declaration says that the Presidents
"consider it important to encourage creation of conditions for
realizing measures to strengthen confidence in the context of
settlement efforts."

The document was signed in the presence of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group.