Azerbaijan, Baku, May 8 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov does not plan to meet with the OSCE Minsk group co-chairmen in Brussels May 11-12, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov told Trend.
"At this stage, co-chairmen of the Minsk Group must work more with the Armenian side, since, as opposed to official Baku, Yerevan has not expressed its attitude to the updated Madrid principles," Polukhov said.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with the OSCE Minsk group co-chairmen in Brussels, the foreign ministry told "News-Armenia" agency.
At the meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in January in Sochi, the OSCE Minsk Group presented the parties an updated version of the Madrid document, which is the basis for negotiations.
Official Baku, adopting the Madrid principles, has not yet received the information from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen on Yerevan's position on an updated version of the Madrid principles proposed by the mediators to Armenia.
Polukhov said that the next step in the process of negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh must be a way to reach a comprehensive agreement to resolve the conflict.
"So, the Armenian side must express its attitude to updated Madrid principles", Polukhov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.