Russia is still doing its best to achieve a complex and comprehensive normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an extraordinary meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council, where the issue of aid to Armenia was discussed.

"Traditionally, so to speak, if we look at the historical component, Russia has always paid attention to stability in this direction and has supported our Armenian friends in ensuring the security of the Armenian people - since long ago.

As far as the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement is concerned, even today we do everything possible to achieve a comprehensive and complete normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan. I would like to note right away, it's clear to everyone, it's obvious to everyone: both Azerbaijan and Armenia in the recent past, just like Russia - we were all part of a single state. We have a huge number of ties with both Yerevan and Baku, and it is simply impossible not to take that into account. Undoubtedly, we are all in a rather difficult position. But of course, we cannot stay aside from problems and contradictions between the states which are close to Russia and we are always ready to contribute to their peaceful resolution. And in general we are certainly interested in Transcaucasia to be a calm and steadily developing region.

Undoubtedly, the only possible and realistic way to peace is through the strict observance of all the provisions of the well-known joint statements of the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - I will not list them all now.

It is through the consistent implementation of these agreements on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the unblocking of transport communications, and the resolution of humanitarian issues that we can achieve sustainable normalization of Armenia's relations with Azerbaijan. We have talked to the Armenian Prime Minister about this many times, and I understand that our colleague fully agrees with that. The question is how to find these solutions, it's not easy, but it is possible to find them only on that way. In the future it will also make it possible to reach a peace treaty," he said.