Russia reaffirms readiness to assist in resolving of Karabakh crisis

/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Russia as an international mediator is ready to render all possible assistance to the parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Maria Zakharova, the Spokesperson for Russia's Foreign Ministry, made the remark as part of the briefing held in Moscow on April 21.

“We are firmly convinced that the parties [of the conflict] should resume the negotiation process aimed at achieving a lasting settlement,” she said. “It is essential to intensify the work on reducing the war risk on the basis of the existing agreements.”

The parties to the long-lasting Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict are now required to exercise restraint and to engage in dialogue on the restoration of stability, Zakharova believes. “As an international mediator we reaffirm the readiness in the interaction with other co-chairing states of the OSCE Minsk Group to assist the parties with all necessary aid in realization of this goal," she stressed.

Moreover, Zakharova said that the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh will be discussed during the two-day visit of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Yerevan. At the same time, Anti-Russian sentiments are gaining new pace in Armenia, as the country was upset with Russia's position in the last military operation on the frontline with Azerbaijan.

As the country’s media reported, Yerevan will host a rally against the visit of Lavrov who plans to hold talks with the country’s president and foreign minister to discuss tense situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The protesters will march to the country’s Foreign Ministry and the Russian embassy to voice their demands,” the local media reports.

Armenia staged provocations on the contact line of troops on April 2, thus making the Azerbaijani side to retaliate the mass attacks targeting not only military positions, but also civilians. Immediately after Armenia launched military operations against neighboring Azerbaijan, Russia, which enjoys great influence on Yerevan, expressed its concern over the situation.

The scaly reply of well-equipped Azerbaijani troops to such sudden attacks revealed poor state of the Armenian army, which immediately blamed the countries, in particular Russia in sale of weapons to Baku. At the same time, Yerevan did not mention its own arms purchases from Russia.

Moscow's response was sharp: deliveries of Russian arms to Armenia and Azerbaijan form a balance that keeps the region from military escalation. At that very moment, Yerevan understood that Moscow does not intend to maintain Armenia's interests unilaterally.