Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after his meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov in Moscow said that if someone thinks that the UN, the OSCE, or some Minsk fact-finding group should replace the Russian peacekeeping contingent, there are at least a couple of questions.

Sergey Lavrov noted that there are reproaches about their contingent. First of all, so to speak, from the public opinion of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. But it really does not happen so often on the part of the leader of the country which has signed trilateral agreements together with Azerbaijan and with the participation of our president, Lavrov added.

"I can only say that Russian peacekeepers are clearly carrying out their tasks, which are defined in the statement of November 9, 2020. Let me remind you that the situation on the ground is very difficult. There are considerable difficulties for our military, including from violations of the regime established by the trilateral agreements, the obligations that arise from these agreements, and in addition, sometimes also our military are subjected to unfounded accusations. If someone thinks that the UN, the OSCE, or some Minsk Group on fact-finding should replace the Russian peacekeeping contingent, then there are at least a couple of questions... The first question is that in order to do this, the parties, primarily Armenia and Azerbaijan, need to agree. If there is such an interest, if it is a serious interest, perhaps this should first be proposed to those who have made the decision to send Russian peacekeepers and have spoken in favour of sitting down at the negotiating table and thinking about another option. If this is done publicly via a microphone, then this must be treated as a part of a public evaluation, a public position.

Secondly, let's see what results are achieved by the UN missions, the OSCE, and the so-called guarantor countries, which are now also starting to talk. For example, what results did the guarantor countries achieve in Ukraine, when in February 2014 they guaranteed an agreement between Yankovych and the opposition, and the morning after this agreement was signed, they threw up their hands and all these guarantees ended...Before making any statements in the morning, and even in the parliament for the whole world, one could hold some consultations, get assistance and advice on whom to invite to settle these or other conflicts," noted Lavrov.

The day before Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan announced that de facto it turns out that Russian peacekeepers do not fulfill their obligation stated in the trilateral statement which is to keep the Lachin corridor under control.