Russia is sparing no effort for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict or bringing the positions of Armenia and Azerbaijan closer, Maria Zakharova, Spokesman for the Russian Foreign Minister, told Tert.am.
“It is the conflicting parties that are supposed to provide information on the time and place of the meeting if it is planned. I can say Russia’s only aim is the soonest settlement of the conflict, which has not only been protracted, but also requires a solution. Active efforts are being made by the Russian president, foreign minister and relevant infrastructures, by means of bilateral and multilateral, within the OSCE Minsk Group and so on. We are well aware that every other day of protracting the conflict is a threat to civilians.”
Asked whether St Petersburg meeting was a Russian attempt to seize the initiative from the Minsk Group, Ms Zakharova dismissed such a scenario.
“Ahead of the St Petersburg meeting, all the sides expressed concerns that Russia was practically monopolizing the [conflict] settlement process, not wishing to make the Minsk Group a participant in all that. But all the sides turned out to have been informed of the meeting. We perfectly understand and respect the Minsk Group’s working style. As for the St Petersburg meeting, it wasn’t absolutely a novelty. It was just a form of dialogue between the parties,” the spokesperson added.
