YEREVAN. – No arrangement relating to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was reached at the Saint Petersburg summit, Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian told Armenpress news agency. 

Nalbandian stated this reflecting on the statement by Azerbaijani presidential advisor Novruz Mammadov, who had claimed that the phased settlement alternative, according to which several regions need to be returned to Azerbaijan, were given preference to during the trilateral meeting—between the presidents of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan—in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

“This official, Novruz Mammadov, has never participated in any [Karabakh peace] talks,” said Nalbandian. “[And] the Saint Petersburg summit was no exception.”

As for a package settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, as per the Armenian FM, first and foremost, Azerbaijan’s recognition of the Artsakh people’s right to self-determination, and the exercising of this right, should be the basis for the settlement.

“At this phase Azerbaijan needs to unconditionally carry out the arrangements reached and reaffirmed in Vienna and Saint Petersburg,” stressed Edward Nalbandian. “All this will enable to create appropriate conditions for resuming talks aimed at the settlement of the conflict.”