There are many proposals regarding the format of negotiations, including the expansion and change of the format. This was recently discussed during the meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. This is what Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov told Kommersant when asked how Moscow treats the proposal of President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to create a new format for negotiations over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, according to which Russia and Turkey will be the key external players.

“Russia doesn’t hide the fact that it doesn’t support the position on the possibility of a military solution to the issue. We view both peoples as friendly and fraternal. The presidents of Russia, the US and France support an exclusively political settlement. In this regard, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia affirmed the fact that the format for negotiations can’t be changed,” Lavrov said.

Asked if Russia hasn’t become extremely dependent on Turkey for settlement of conflicts in the region, starting from Syria and Lebanon and ending with Nagorno-Karabakh, Lavrov stated that Moscow and Ankara are closely cooperating and working on settling crises in different regions.

“The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is fundamentally different. It is important that the parties and external partners strictly observe the ceasefire agreements, create a control mechanism and start substantive negotiations again. Although we haven’t been able to achieve a sustainable ceasefire, we continue to influence the region and ill work with our Turkish partners to bring Baku and Yerevan to the negotiating table,” Lavrov added.