“Both the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and the Turkish-Armenian problem are most complicated in themselves. I do not think it is right to consider all the problems in a package,” RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated at a news conference held jointly with his Turkish counterpart Recep Erdogan. He underlined Moscow’s readiness to help resolve both the problems.

According to Putin, each of the problems is most difficult to resolve separately. “And if we lump this all together, it will put off the solution for distant future,” Putin said. He considers it tactically and strategically inadvisable to link the two problems. The Russian Premier stressed that Russia is the most interested in the improvement of relations between the countries of the region. “A great number of invisible threads connect us with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Millions of Azerbaijanis and Armenians live in Russia and have relatives and friends here. Russia is developing its economic ties with the states,” Putin said as quoted by RIA Novosti.

The Russian Premier also stated Russia is interested in the resolution of all the problems of the Soviet times, including the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. “We know about the bitter legacy Turkey and Armenia received from the past, and we are interested in the Turkish-Armenian relations being improved,” Putin said. With great hopes Russia welcomed the normalization initiative, the Russian Premier said. “We hope very much that any elements of extreme approaches resulting from the past problems will be removed from the negotiation process,” Putin said. The RF Premier pointed out that the Armenian leaders are on this positive way as well. He stated that Russia respects the positions taken by all of its partners, and its role in the settlement process is to support all the efforts to resolve the complicated problems.

During his visit to Moscow the Turkish Premier held talks with the Russian leaders.

T.P.