The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the most bloody and large-scale conflicts in the post-Soviet region. This is an old conflict with its own genesis and internal dynamics. The conflict is considered to be a real obstacle to the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Different political and economic factors play a major role in the regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: the geostrategic interests of regional hegemons and the question of who controls its oil riches. Not surprisingly, the process of conflict regulation in Nagorno-Karabakh is a highly politicized issue. To date, little or no attention has been paid to the legal aspects of the conflict, and the possibility for conflict regulation via the application of the principles of international law. This thesis focuses on the application of the principles of international law as a way to regulate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, in due consideration of the political interests of the parties involved in the conflict. The paper investigates the role of international principles in conflict prevention and regulation, and their applicability to the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. The legal aspects of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from its earliest days to the present are comprehensively studied in the thesis. Possible models for the regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the role of precedent are discussed in this paper in order to assess the possiblity of an international recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.