YEREVAN. - Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the upcoming summit on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that Russian President Dimitriy Medvedev will host in Kazan, Russia on Friday, the press office of the Armenian president informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

President Obama thanked his Armenian counterpart for the efforts directed at the solution of Karabakh conflict. The U.S. President reaffirmed the message expressed in the joint statement with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs President Nicholas Sarkozy and President Dmitri Medvedev that the moment has come for all the sides to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to take a decisive step towards a peaceful settlement. President Obama strongly encouraged Serzh Sargsyan to finalize and endorse the Basic Principles during the meeting in Kazan. 

President Sargsyan thanked Barack Obama for his support of the process of negotiations in the framework of OSCE Minsk Group. Sargsyan stressed that Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh always strive for peaceful and fare solution of the conflict and the meeting can bring to fruitful results in case Azerbaijani side adopts a constructive approach.

Presidents of Armenia and U.S. also discussed development of bilateral relations.

According to the White House, the U.S. President held another phone conversation with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev.

In conversations with both leaders Obama stressed, once the Basic Principles are agreed to, the parties can begin negotiating a final settlement based on the Helsinki principles of non-use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity, and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples.

“President Obama told both leaders that now is the time to resolve this conflict and to offer the people of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Nagorno-Karabakh a better future for themselves and for their children. The United States will continue to support both leaders and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs in their important efforts to advance security and prosperity in the region,” reads the White House statement.