The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova categorically rejects the allegations that by means of organizing a meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan in St. Petersburg , Russia has tried to establish a monopoly on the Karabakh settlement process .

"There were concerns that Russia allegedly established its monopoly in that process, does not want to share information and so on. However, during and after the St. Petersburg meeting, everyone made sure that  mediators were duly informed and did not feel being out of the process. It is the parties and the monitors who highly evaluated the effectiveness of that meeting," said Zakharova, who accompanies the  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during the session of CSTO Foreign Ministers’ Council in Yerevan, to the Radio Liberty.

Zakharova refrained from providing information about a new meeting between Sargsyan and Aliyev, noting that it is the  parties that should announce that. "Where and when the presidents should meet is an information that they should provide by themselves. We can say that the Russian President, Foreign Minister, and the entire foreign ministry has made great efforts in that regard. We do it through bilateral and multilateral channels and within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group . We are doing all these, since  we understand that each day of delay may pose threats against civilians , " said Maria Zakharova.