Russia vows to do utmost for Karabakh resolution

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Although the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is still unresolved, Russia's increased efforts for finding a solution to the long-lasting problem caught eyes in the passing year.   

In 2016 Russia was a very active mediator to move towards a fair settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. Russia was the initiator of the ceasefire during the April clashes between the Armenian and Azerbaijani Armed Forces. Following that, in June, the Russian President Vladimir Putin invited his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts to St. Petersburg to mull the future development of the negotiations over the conflict.

"Russia will continue to engage in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and the country is doing everything in its power as a co-chair country in the OSCE Minsk Group to help advance this process," said Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova at a briefing on December 27.

“Everything that depends on us will be carried out, so that the settlement process does not stop, but rather intensifies,” she said.

The mediation of Russia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been reflected in the main foreign policy outcome of the 2016 which was published on December 27 by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“Thanks to the vigorous actions of Russia during the meeting in Moscow of the chiefs of General staffs of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia, the cessation of large-scale hostilities that broke out in early April 2016 in Nagorno-Karabakh was achieved,” the statement reads.

Work was made to de-escalate the situation and create conditions for continuation of talks during the Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in May in Vienna with the participation of the foreign ministers of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, as well as during the trilateral meeting in St. Petersburg, the document says.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan confirmed in a joint statement on June 20 after the meeting in St. Petersburg the agreements reached at the latest Armenian-Azerbaijani summit in Vienna, which were aimed at stabilizing the situation in the conflict zone and the creation of an atmosphere conducive to advancing the peace process.

To this end, they agreed, in particular, to increase the number of international observers in the conflict zone.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.