STEPANAKERT. - A new phase will start in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement if Azerbaijan shows respect for the ceasefire agreement signed in 1994 and Nagorno-Karabakh returns to the negotiation table, as well as when the psychological obstacles stemming from Azerbaijan’s revanchist policy are overcome.

NKR President Bako Sahakyan said the aforementioned in an interview with the e-newspaper of the French National Assembly (NA), Radio Liberty reports.

According to Sahakyan, Azerbaijan must be able to abandon its xenophobic policy against the Karabakh and Armenian people, as well as its shortfall adventurism, committing itself to respecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of other people.

The NKR President noted that the four-day April war was the result of the aforementioned policy of xenophobia and dictatorship of the Azerbaijani authorities against the Armenians.

Responding to the question on compromises, Sahakyan said that the resolution of any conflict, especially one as complex as Karabakh issue, is possible only on the basis of mutual concessions.

“Reasonable, correct and equivalent concessions are needed,” Sahakyan noted, adding that “we are ready for compromises if they don’t violate the security of our country and do not serve a convenient occasion for the adversary to initiate a new attack against us.”

Touching on the international recognition of Karabakh, Sahakyan expressed confidence that the process will continue with greater success in the future, positively impacting the stability in the South Caucasus.

The President also recalled that the right to self-determination is one of the fundamental principles of international law. “But this right becomes a necessary obligation when the state it is annexed to has no wish but to eliminate those people,” Sahakyan concluded.