Prague - Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian counterpart, Serzh Serkisian, agreed Thursday to "basic principles" for a solution to their countries' frozen conflict over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, mediators said.

"For the first time, the presidents agreed on basic ideas surrounding these points (in negotiations)," said Matthew Bryza, a US mediator in the so-called Minsk Group brokering the talks.

He declined to specify what the exact points were.

"We are preparing a breakthrough. We are in a position to identify what could be a breakthrough, but we are not yet through," said the French mediator, Bernard Fassier.

Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a bloody six-year war over the predominantly Armenian-populated region in Azerbaijan. The region has been occupied by Armenia since a 1994 ceasefire, but is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. (dpa)