Summary of Armenian, Russian FMs talk in Moscow on Karabakh
The Armenian Foreign Minister is in Moscow on an official visit to speak with Russian FM Sergei Lavrov about the Karabakh conflict.
Below: the main issues raised during the talks in Moscow.
•Op-ed from Yerevan: what to expect after the ceasefire in Karabakh
•‘Artsakh will not be part of Azerbaijan’ – president of Nagorno Karabakh
“Russia will take an active part in the settlement”
The Russian Foreign Minister stated that “Russia will take an active part in the process of the settlement of the Karabakh conflict and hopes for a break in the situation in the near future.”
Russian FM Sergei Lavrov stressed that Russia will deal with this issue both as one of the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and as ‘a very close ally and strategic partner of our neighbors.’
Position of the parties on military action
From the very beginning of the meeting with his Russian counterpart, the Armenian Foreign Minister stated that military actions must be stopped, and the role of Russia in this issue is extremely important. Zohrab Mnatsakanyan stressed that at this moment the requirements of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement, signed in Moscow on October 10, are still not observed.
“We see that while this agreement is not fully observed and the hostilities continue. We expect that the contact we have with both you and with our Azerbaijani colleagues, including through the defense ministries, will make it possible to ensure full implementation of the agreements that were agreed in a trilateral format,” Lavrov replied.
The head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry drew particular attention to the fact that Azerbaijan is still waging large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, “openly demonstrating a goal for the forceful, military solution to the conflict and the physical extermination of the population of Artsakh.”
Mnatsakanyan said Azerbaijan’s genocidal policy is more focused on the destruction of civilian targets:
“As a result of strikes with the use of aviation, including the support of Turkish aircraft, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, heavy artillery, missile and tank units, there are numerous civilian casualties. There are many killed and wounded as a result of the use of cluster munitions by Azerbaijan.”
Verification mechanisms
Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh have long insisted on introducing mechanisms to monitor compliance with the ceasefire regime, but Azerbaijan rejects these proposals every time, the Armenian minister said:
“That is why today we have what we have. That is why I cannot accept any accusations against Armenia or Karabakh.”
On military-technical cooperation with Russia
“Military-technical cooperation between Armenia and Russia is of particular importance, and the development of strategic partnership in this direction is one of the priorities of our bilateral agenda,” Mnatsakanyan said.
He also added that Yerevan continues to interact with the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the military bloc under the leadership of Russia. Armenia is a member of it, but has not yet addressed its allies for help, since according to the organization’s charter, they can intervene in case of aggression against Armenia, but not Nagorno-Karabakh.
