Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev and Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan demonstrated political wisdom when they decided to stop the bloodshed in Karabakh despite all the difficulties, Russian president Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, speaking at a meeting of the Valdai international club.
"First, I must pay tribute to the political wisdom of both Azerbaijani president [Ilham Aliyev] and Armenian prime minister [Nikol Pashinyan]. Despite all the tragedy of the events, they managed to rise above the momentary political situation and make a very responsible decision. <...> President Aliyev and prime minister Pashinyan managed to stop the bloodshed. But even this is not the only thing, although nothing can be more important than saving human lives. Nevertheless, there are other important aspects, namely the need to create conditions for a long-term settlement in the region as a whole. These conditions can only be created if both sides accept the agreements reached as lasting and if both sides appreciate the advantages of, let me underline this, peaceful coexistence. And this is in everyone's interest," Putin said.
According to him, there are dissatisfied with the political decisions of their leaders in both countries. "There are always political forces that are dissatisfied with something or think they could have done better. There is always an answer: try to do better," pointed out the Russian leader.
As the Russian leader said, the efforts of the parties in both cases should lead to the main goal - "the creation of a safe coexistence of two states and the creation of conditions for economic development." "Is it possible or not? It is possible," he stated. Putin stressed that Russia had done everything in the interest of ending hostilities in Karabakh. "Our peacekeepers are fulfilling their duty with dignity. Over 50,000 refugees have already returned to their homeland.
He added that the situation in Karabakh has been generally calm, despite the incidents that sometimes lead to human losses.
Resolving the border issue
Armenia and Azerbaijan can resolve the border issue based on the Soviet period maps, but the process requires mutual compromises, the president said.
"The most important thing now is to resolve the situation on the border. And here, of course, nothing can be done without Russia's participation. Here, perhaps, we don't even need anyone else but the two sides and Russia. Why? There are very simple, pragmatic things: because there are maps in the General staff of the Russian army which show how the border between the Soviet republics was in the Soviet period. <...> There are things there that also require mutual compromises - somewhere to equalize something, somewhere to exchange something. Only in such a way that it should be recognized and it should be clear that it is beneficial to both sides", noted Putin.
According to the Russian leader, Moscow is also in favor of finding a multilateral format for the settlement, including intensifying the work of the OSCE Minsk group. According to him, such work is currently underway, and the main goal of the entire process is to "create a situation of security and the future construction of relations in a positive way."
"So far we've been able to achieve what we set out to achieve, in general. And, of course, we have to look to the future, to see what happens next. It's not that the relevant article of our [trilateral] statement provides for a possible extension of the stay of the Russian contingent. Is that really the point? It's about building relations between the two countries, that's what's most important. And I hope that we will be able to do this," concluded the president of the Russian Federation.
Conflict in Nagorno Karabakh
The situation in the conflict zone over Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020, when the armed hostilities broke out. On November 9 the same year, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, Russian president Vladimir Putin and Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on the full cessation of hostilities in Karabakh. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides stopped at the occupied positions, a number of districts passed under Baku's control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed along the line of contact and the Lachin corridor. One of the points of the statement to be implemented by the sides is the exchange of prisoners according to the "all for all" principle.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Alexander Ryumin / TASS
Based on materials from TASS