BAKU: Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Friday said he was ready to return to talks over Nagorno-Karabakh, but he was not willing to make concessions to Armenia and no other country could influence Baku’s will in the conflict.

Aliyev, speaking during a televised address to the nation, said there could be no talks if Armenia continued to insist that Nagorno-Karabakh was part of Armenian territory.

He said Azerbaijan’s use of force had changed the facts on the ground and that he had proved there was a military solution to the dispute.

Azeri and ethnic Armenian forces fought new clashes in and around Nagorno-Karabakh on Friday, while plans to hold talks in Moscow raised hopes of ending the deadliest battles in the South Caucasus for more than 25 years.