The director of the ARF bureau's Hay Dat and political affairs office Kiro Manoyan predicted no change in Karabakh settlement talks’ format before the oncoming elections.

As he told a news conference in Yerevan, the change in negotiation format is only possible if Setepanakert becomes involved in settlement talks.

Mr. Manoyan was skeptical over a possibility of progress in Karabakh settlement, blaming Baku for stalling negotiations.

Dwelling on Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s proposals on conflict settlement, as well as Yerevan and Baku’s response for proposals advanced, Manoyan characterized the response of both sides as negative. At June 24 meeting in Kazan, the Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia failed to sign an agreement on basic principles of Karabakh conflict settlement. As Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian noted later, despite the OSCE MG co-chairs’ efforts, Azerbaijan was not ready to accept the final version of basic principles, presenting ten new amendments at the last moment. On July 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov handed over a personal message and proposals of RF President Dmitry Medvedev to Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, who later submitted their responses for proposals advanced.