YEREVAN. – The Madrid document, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chairs have proposed, assumes a package solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict, and based on mutual concessions, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan told Panorama.am.

He stated this when asked about his view on the Azerbaijani leader’s statements on a phased resolution to this conflict.

“A key element of this package settlement is the determination of the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh, in accordance with the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s binding expression of will,” added Kocharyan. “But the Azerbaijani leadership used the period after the adoption of the Madrid document to distort the substance of the negotiation process (…).

“The resumption of Azerbaijan’s large-scale hostilities against the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was the logical continuation of such policy (…).

“Azerbaijan’s aggression in April clearly demonstrated its leadership’s incapacity to follow the commitments it assumed under the agreements it has signed, and proved that the start of the package  settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict shall be given by Azerbaijan’s recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (…).

“The conflict must be resolved within the framework of the exercising of the Nagorno-Karabakh people’s right to self-determination, and Azerbaijan’s accountability for the aggression carried out against the self-determined Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”