In an interview with Azertaj, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev commented on the statement that Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan made yesterday.

“The settlement of the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan needs to be through a phased approach, but Armenia is undermining the process of negotiations with its statements. The statement by Armenia’s foreign minister is downsizing negotiations over the conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. This is also a sign of disrespect towards the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs,” Hajiyev said.

According to him, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict needs to be settled through a phased approach, based on the Helsinki Final Act and the Resolutions of the UN Security Council. “In the first phase, the Armenian troops need to be dislocated from the occupied regions of Azerbaijan surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh,” Hajiyev said, adding that Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov also talked about the phased approach to the settlement of the conflict yesterday and that Baku’s position on the settlement hasn’t changed.