It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that’s followed the run-up to the two ill-fated meetings held between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents this year, but the proposed framework peace deal to resolve the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh has finally been revealed. The move comes after a senior U.S. official confirmed much of the speculation circulating in Yerevan for the past year and a half.

In a joint statement that was circulated by the U.S. embassy in Yerevan on Wednesday, the mediating group’s American, French and Russian co-chairs said their hitherto confidential peace plan envisages a self-determination referendum to be held in Karabakh after the liberation of Armenian-occupied territories in Azerbaijan.

The statement was presented to the OSCE’s decision-making Permanent Council in Vienna last Thursday and was not made public until being posted on the U.S. embassy website almost a week later. Washington’s new top Karabakh negotiator, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, revealed details of the proposed peace plan to RFE/RL shortly after the Permanent Council meeting.

Although those details had already been leaked to the media by Armenian officials last year, Yerevan reacted negatively to Bryza’s interview, saying that the U.S. official failed to present other important provisions of the Minsk Group plan. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said on Monday that those include enabling Karabakh to retain an overland link with Armenia and remain under Armenian control at least until the referendum.

Bryza’s remarks also sparked allegations in the Armenian press that Washington is exerting pressure on Yerevan ahead of the Armenian parliamentary and presidential elections due in 2007 and 2008 respectively. It is not clear if the U.S. State Department decided to publicize the Minsk Group statement through its mission in Armenia in order to end that speculation.

“These principles include the phased redeployment of Armenian troops from Azerbaijani territories around Nagorno-Karabakh, with special modalities for Kelbajar and Lachin districts [separating Karabakh from Armenia proper],” said the co-chairs. “Demilitarization of those territories would follow. A referendum or population vote would be agreed, at an unspecified future date, to determine the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“An international peacekeeping force would be deployed,” added the statement. “A joint commission would be agreed to implement the agreement. International financial assistance would be made available for demining, reconstruction, resettlement of internally displaced persons in the formerly occupied territories and the war-affected regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. The sides would renounce the use or threat of use of force, and international and bilateral security guarantees and assurances would be put in place.”

The full report is here.