The accusations of Russia's betrayal because of the alleged lack of support for Armenia in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are absolutely unfounded, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov told an interview published on Friday on RT TV channel.
"The accusations against Russia are absolutely unfounded," Peskov replied to the comment that Russia allegedly did not provide significant support to Armenia in resolving the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, and some Armenians regard Russia's position as treason.
Moscow considers both Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan friends of Russia, Peskov said.
"Absolutely," the Kremlin representative answered a question whether Moscow continues to consider both Aliyev and Pashinyan friends at the same time. "Only this attitude, only the fact that Russia cherishes its relations with Armenia (we are in the EEC, we are in the CSTO, Armenia is a country with which we have been building relations for centuries), and the same with the Azerbaijanis - and we value our friendship, historical friendship with the people of Azerbaijan, and with the people of Armenia - only this approach allowed Russia to play the role of an impartial mediator [in the settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh]," Peskov said.
Formulas of the Minsk Group
Peskov believes that the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) proposed mechanisms for resolving the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the adoption of which several years ago would have prevented bloodshed. The Kremlin representative recalled that Azerbaijan considered military methods possible to resolve the conflict and began a military operation based on that approach. According to Peskov, such an operation in the region was preceded by "many years of attempts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and primarily Russia, to propose some ways for the settlement.
"These formulas existed, they are well known to the participants of the international negotiation process, but, unfortunately, they did not work for one reason or another," he said. - "If they had been implemented even two years ago, this bloody war probably would not have happened and it would have been possible to avoid the death of not a single thousand young Armenians and young Azerbaijanis".
The spokesperson for the Russian leader did not specify what exactly those formulas were. At the same time, Peskov noted that all the countries co-chairing the Minsk Group "did not share Baku's approach" and "argumentatively insisted that the only possible way to settle this conflict is through political and diplomatic measures".
The Kremlin representative also recalled the joint statement of the Presidents of Russia, the United States and France on Nagorno-Karabakh, in which they strongly condemned the escalation of violence in the region. "France was making efforts separately, Washington was making efforts separately, but in line with common efforts," Peskov said. - "This, too, must have contributed greatly to the consensus that made possible the statements of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev and [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan".
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS