Lukashenko, Putin urged Armenia to return occupied Azerbaijani districts

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko on Dec. 14 at a meeting with representatives of the Russian media spoke about earlier proposals for participation of Russia and Belarus in settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Trend reports citing BelTA.

He noted that the issue was discussed in Yerevan at one of the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) summits at the time when Serzh Sargsyan was the president of Armenia.

Lukashenko called on the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to solve this problem together, by making compromise decisions.

At the same time, Belarus and Russia took a consolidated position and promised to deploy a military contingent, if necessary, to provide certain guarantees, Lukashenko said.

The president of Belarus added that he with Putin asked Sargsyan to return five occupied Azerbaijani districts. Sargsyan replied that if he does this, Azerbaijan will take Nagorno-Karabakh by using these districts and rejected Lukashenko’s proposal.

The president of Belarus said he was really surprised why Sargsyan rejected this proposal, because this was a first step, and if it succeeded, both Armenia and Azerbaijan would be in the EEU (Eurasian Economic Union) and the CSTO.

He stressed the importance of a peaceful settlement of the conflict, including as an important factor for attracting foreign investments.

Lukashenko said that the heads of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be able to resolve the conflict, adding that international mediators did nothing actually to resolve the situation over the past years.