YEREVAN. – Armenia stands ready for the Nagorno-Karabakh talks, even on the basis of the Madrid Principles.

National Assembly Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov, who is also spokesperson of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, on Monday told the aforesaid to reporters.

“This [i.e. the Madrid Principles] is not the document of Armenia’s dreams, but Yerevan accepts it as a basis,” he said. “Several working documents, including the Kazan document which Azerbaijan has rejected, were drawn up on its basis.

“The main [thing] for Yerevan is the [Karabakh people’s] right to self-determination (…). It’s a difficult road, but we need to go on that road.”

Sharmazanov stressed that the self-determination of peoples is a precept, whereas territorial integrity—a means.  

“The precept shall serve the means, but not vice versa,” he added. “And we are saying: the people of Nagorno-Karabakh shall decide, and not you or I.

“If Azerbaijan is speaking about a phased option [for the resolution of the Karabakh conflict], the right to self-determination of Nagorno-Karabakh shall be recognized in the first phase; and the status quo can thus change.”