Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed hope that in the future there will be no repeat of incidents such as the clash that took place on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in July.
"In the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, we must be guided by the decisions taken by the international community. A serious negotiating base has been developed within the OSCE, " he said after talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. - Of course, more intensive negotiations would not hurt, but first of all, in order to implement these plans, we need to normalize the situation in general, including the cessation of any incidents. We hope that what happened in July will not happen again."
Lavrov noted that the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs plan to visit Baku and Yerevan, as well as to organize contacts between the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The situation on the border of the two states escalated on July 12. Baku stated that the Armenian armed forces attempted to attack the positions of the Republic's army using artillery, while Yerevan called the Azerbaijani side's attempt to break through the line the reason for the escalation. In both cases, there were dead soldiers. According to both sides, the situation has been relatively calm since July 17, but reports of shelling near the border and the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh have been received almost daily.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry expressed hope for Russia's efforts in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict
Progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not yet been observed, and Baku places special hopes on Moscow's efforts in this issue, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at a joint press conference following talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
"We have high hopes for Russia's active role in the settlement of the Armenian - Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," he said. - I regret to say that there is no progress in the settlement of the conflict. Armenia continues to hold 20% of the internationally recognized territory of our country under occupation."
The head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry drew attention to the fact that "the original Azerbaijani population was expelled from the territories held under the control of Armenia, whose homes are inhabited by ethnic Armenians from abroad, including the countries of the Middle East". According to him, this "is a gross violation of international humanitarian law, primarily the Geneva conventions".
"Azerbaijan's position on the settlement of the conflict is based on the norms and principles of international law, as well as documents adopted by international organizations, primarily UN Security Council resolutions," Bayramov said. - We believe that a peaceful settlement of the conflict can be based on the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from occupation and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes. The international community and the OSCE Minsk group co-chair countries should influence Armenia to take a more constructive position to continue substantive negotiations."
Provocations undermine the peace process
The Azerbaijani Minister believes that Armenia continues to undermine the peace process. "Armenia's destructive position led to an escalation of the situation on July 12-16 this year," he said. - The Armenian armed forces attacked both Azerbaijani military positions and peaceful villages. An attempt was made to seize Azerbaijani territories, and among the victims of this aggression was a 76-year-old resident of an Azerbaijani village who died in the courtyard of his own house."
The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister drew attention to the fact that this provocation was staged on the section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, which is located at a great distance from the zone of the Karabakh conflict. "Oil and gas pipelines that export energy resources from the Caspian sea basin to the world market pass through this territory," he added.
"The military provocations of the Armenian side to destabilize the situation continue," Bayramov continued. - So, in the early morning of August 23, a reconnaissance and sabotage group of the Armenian Armed forces attempted to attack Azerbaijani positions. The attack was repulsed. The commander of the reconnaissance group was captured."
According to the Azerbaijani side, through provocations, "the Armenian leadership is trying, among other things, to distract attention from domestic political and socio-economic problems, which have been further aggravated by the government's failed policy in the fight against the pandemic."
Substantive conversation
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also noted that the settlement should be accompanied by a substantive conversation between all parties, and not turn into an imitation of negotiations.
"We believe that there is a fairly serious legal framework and that the negotiation process should proceed with respect to the documents adopted by international organizations, primarily four UN Security Council resolutions and a number of other documents that were adopted by international organizations in the following years. From this point of view, as already noted, we are in favor of continuing the negotiation process, but we believe that the negotiation process should be around very specific issues, it should be substantive, and not an imitation," he said.
In addition, Bayramov noted that all actions and statements that serve to undermine the negotiation process should be condemned "both by the international community and, first of all, by the OSCE Minsk group co-chairs". "I would like to note that Azerbaijan's constructive position in the negotiation process is confirmed by real actions: despite the continued occupation of 20% of the territory, Azerbaijan has been at the negotiating table for about 30 years. We are committed to a political settlement of the conflict, " the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister added.
The Armenian and Russian Foreign Ministers discussed the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement
Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Russia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Sergey Lavrov discussed issues related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue by phone on Wednesday. This was reported in the press service of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic.
"Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Sergey Lavrov discussed regional developments after the July fighting and in this context the situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. Minister Mnatsakanyan stressed the importance of the Armenian-Russian cooperation aimed at maintaining peace, stability and security in the region," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Foreign Ministry added that the Foreign Ministers exchanged views on the issues on the agenda of the Armenian-Russian allied relations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS