As part of this work presents the analysis of the basic document and the legal framework of the peace settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the modern stage - «Madrid or Basic principles», presented to the sides of the negotiations at the OSCE ministerial conference in the Spanish capital Madrid in November 2007. The both side’s statements, international mediators and institutes form a legal background of the vector and the framework of the negotiation process. There are the fundamental differences and contradictions in the approaches of the sides of the negotiations to the «Basic principles» of the settlement in this article. The work contains a comparison of the various items and elements of the Madrid document both in relation to each other, and to the principles of international law.

Madrid principles, Karabakh conflict, OSCE Minsk Group, interim status, referendum