Russia is closely participating in settling the incident that took place on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and is helping reduce the escalation. This is what Spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said today.

“Russia is regularly maintaining contact with Baku and Yerevan at the highest and high levels and has established operative contacts with soldiers, border services and, of course, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs. As far as the border incident is concerned, this has nothing in common with the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The main reason for the incident is the fact that the Armenia-Azerbaijan border is not legally registered at the international level. Russia views the launch of demarcation (and later delineation) of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as a long-term solution. Russia is ready to do everything it can to assist.”

Commenting on President Ilham Aliyev’s recent statement that Azerbaijan will recognize Armenia’s borders, if Armenia recognizes Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan, Zakharova stressed that the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group (Russia, USA, France) deal exclusively with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and that this is enshrined in their mandate from the OSCE.

“In their April 13 statement, the Co-Chairs mentioned the issues, the solutions to which require additional efforts, including the return of prisoners of war and other detainees, in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law, the exchange of all data required for demining of the territories affected after the conflict, the lifting of restrictions on entry into Nagorno-Karabakh, the preservation and protection of religious and cultural heritage, etc. I must emphasize that the format of the OSCE Minsk Group enjoys wide international support, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be settled politically within the scope of the Minsk Group. As is known, Yerevan and Baku still have major disputes, particularly the dispute over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. After the events that took place in September-November 2020, both parties are at the beginning of the path to restoration of dialogue and mutual trust. Russia is making mediation efforts to settle the relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and stabilize the situation in the South Caucasus. Russian peacekeepers guarantee peace and security in Nagorno-Karabakh. The trilateral task force chaired by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia are dealing with the unblocking of transport and economic links in the region,” she said.