The Russian delegation did not take part in the voting at the PACE on the “Humanitarian consequences of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan” resolution which was adopted Monday. Deputy director Alexey Zaytsev of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry said this during a briefing Thursday, when asked about Russia's position on the establishment of a demilitarized zone on the Armenia-Azerbaijani border—and which was is included in the aforesaid resolution.

"During the discussion of the document, both the Armenian and Azerbaijani colleagues were petitioning to the Russian delegation to the PACE. Given Russia's mediating role, our delegation to the PACE did not take part in the voting on the document, whose provisions were causing disagreements between the parties from the beginning.

We [i.e., Russia] have repeatedly stressed that the stable and long-term solution to the problem of incidents in certain parts of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is the establishment of a commission for the delimitation of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which will be followed by demarcation along its entire length. Moscow has formulated and submitted proposals to Yerevan and Baku to ensure the start of the relevant negotiation process. We expect the response of the colleagues," Zaytsev added.