Azerbaijan does not accept Saint Petersburg proposals

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has responded to the recent statement by Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan that there were proposals over the Nagorno Karabakh conflict made during the recent trilateral meeting in Saint Petersburg.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Elhan Polukhov said that of all the three co-chair countries only Russia was present during the Saint Petersburg meeting which means that the proposals made at that meeting are not an initiative taken by all the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries.

"The format of the negotiation process for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict assumes the presentation of proposals agreed among the three co-chair countries - Russia, US and France," said Polukhov.

"While in Petersburg a working proposal was made by Russia which in no way affects the renewed Madrid Principles presented by the OSCE Minsk Group. This present format of the negotiation process was confirmed by a statement made by the foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries in Athens, later in a joint statement by the US, Russian and French presidents in the framework of the G8 summit in Canada."

Further Polukhov said that the negotiation process over Nagorno Karabakh continues based on the above-mentioned joint statements.

Earlier Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan said that if Baku accepts the Minsk Group proposals, then the talks will continue, or else "other ways" will be chosen.

"If Baku accepts the Minsk group proposals, negotiations will continue, and if it does not so, some other ways will be chosen. Yes, the negotiations are going on. The latest proposals were presented in Saint Petersburg. We say, that the document allows us to proceed with the talks. Let's see what Azerbaijan will say to that," Sargsyan had said.