Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev expressed hope that Russia would be able to help resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) conflict.

"As for Karabakh...It is a very difficult issue going back to the old, deep-rooted past. When it escalated, we tried to help the two republics [of Armenia and Azerbaijan], the two peoples to find a solution. And later Russia also tried," said Gorbachev, who led the country in the late 1980s during the escalation of the Karabakh conflict, in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The former Soviet leader expressed confidence that now that the recent hostilities have ended, it is important not to stop and not to leave the problem unresolved for decades. "I hope Russia will be able to help, but the main role is played by the parties to the conflict. Armenia and Azerbaijan have pledged to hold talks on its settlement. The decision must be in the interests of both sides, without winners and losers," Gorbachev said.

On November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on a complete cessation of hostilities—which Azerbaijan had launched on September 27—in and around Artsakh. Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. But this statement also stipulates the handover of part of Artsakh lands to Azerbaijan.