Lavrov: Conflict over Karabakh is no longer anything abstract or domestic affair of Azerbaijan
ArmInfo.The conflict over Karabakh is no longer anything abstract or domestic affair of Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a conference in Moscow on January 17, when asked whether Russia will keep aloof or interfere
in case of an Azeri counter operation in Karabakh.
The Russian minister recalled that that there are several tools for
the Karabakh conflict settlement, first of all, the decisions taken
at the UN Security Council in the full swing of the conflict and
demanded ceasefire. "Since then the demand that the troops should be
withdrawn from the occupied territories, but within ruling out any
military scenario and within determining the final status of
Nagorno-Karabakh has been relevant," Lavrov said, adding that this is
fixed in the numerous decisions of the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as
in the statements and documents adopted and signed by the Presidents
of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
As regards the April events, Lavrov stressed that the bloody events
in April 2016 caused deep concerns. "Russia played a crucial role to
stop the bloodshed at that time. After the escalation in April 2016,
arrangements were reached at the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits,
stressing the need to create an investigative mechanism and to
increase the number of the OSCE observers on the line of contact.
"The need to create an investigative mechanism was also stressed at
the Astrakhan meeting of the presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Russia," Lavrov noted, adding that unfortunately this cannot be put
in practice yet due to the lack of consensus in the OSCE. "The
question about the lack of consensus can be given to the OSCE
representatives," he said.