Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova commented on the Azerbaijani MFA statement, which, in essence, has called on the Russian side to refrain from mentioning the term "Nagorno-Karabakh."

Responding to the relevant question, Zakharova drew attention to the contradictions of such a position. According to her, such statements are made amid the fact that Azerbaijan regularly speaks out on issues related to the new subjects of Russia, continuing to consider them as part of Ukraine.

She emphasized that Russia, including President Vladimir Putin himself, played a key role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. According to Zakharova, Moscow's efforts in this regard have been consistent and have been carried out for decades—since the 1990s.

Zakharova noted that it was thanks to these efforts that it was possible to achieve a cessation of bloodshed in the fall of 2020. She recalled that for about four years, the Russian peacekeeping contingent ensured the maintenance of ceasefire in the region.

According to her, Russia's participation has become an important factor in the launch of the current phase of normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. As the Russian MFA spokesperson emphasized, this process is developing in key directions, and on the basis of trilateral agreements reached at a high level in 2020-2022.

Zakharova drew attention also to the results of the summit held in Prague on October 6, 2022 under the auspices of the European Union. The joint statement adopted as a result of this enshrined the recognition of each other's territorial integrity by Armenia and Azerbaijan, which was done in accordance with the UN Charter and the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration.

She noted that in recent years, Baku and Yerevan have preferred to conduct a direct dialogue—without intermediaries, and Russia has approached this position with understanding. At the same time, Moscow has supported the constructive steps of both sides at each phase, and they are aimed at establishing lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus.

Zakharova particularly pointed out the importance of the initialing of the text of the agreement on the establishment of peace and interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia in August 2025. According to her, the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement issue from an institutional point of view was specified by the OSCE decision, according to which the structures of the Minsk process began to be dissolved on December 1, 2025, and Moscow also expressed its support for this decision.

At the same time, the Russian MFA spokesperson emphasized that there is still a lot of work ahead. In particular, this concerns the signing of a full peace treaty, the restoration of transport and economic ties in the region, the delimitation and demarcation of the state border, as well as the strengthening of mutual trust between the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

According to her, Russia intends to continue to provide assistance to the parties in all these areas, to the extent that Baku and Yerevan require it.

In conclusion, the Russian MFA spokesperson noted that the current phase of the settlement requires the consolidation of the achieved results, expressing hope that the process of normalizing relations will be truly irreversible, in the exclusively positive sense of the expression.