Interfax, Russia
July 10 2009

Russia, U.S., France to offer updated version of Karabakh settlement
proposals

AQUILA, Italy July 10

L’ The presidents of Russia, the United States and France reaffirmed
their pledge to help the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia to finish
negotiations on the main principles for settling the conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, U.S. President Barack Obama and
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy will order their mediators to
provide the Azeri and Armenian presidents with an updated version of
the Madrid Document dated November 29, 2007, which contains the latest
proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group’s co-chairmen regarding the main
settlement principles, the three leaders said in a joint communique
adopted on the sidelines of the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy.

They also called on the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to sort
out several remaining disagreements and to finish negotiations on
these main principles, which will be included in a comprehensive
settlement plan, they said.

A meeting of the Russian, Armenian and Azeri presidents will take
place in Moscow in mid-July, Russian presidential aide Sergei
Prikhodko said on Thursday.

The Russian and French foreign ministers, as well as the U.S.

undersecretary of state forwarded a draft document outlining the main
principles for resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to the Azeri
and Armenian foreign ministers in Madrid in November 2007.

These principles include restoring Azerbaijan’s control over the
territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, ensuring Nagorno-Karabakh’s
interim status and giving guarantees of security and self-governance.

The principles also suggest creating a corridor that would link
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, determining the self-proclaimed
republic’s future legal status based on the population’s will,
allowing all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to
their homes, and providing international security guarantees,
including a peacekeeping operation.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress