Igor Korotchenko: implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be unconditional

The implementation of the four UN Security Council resolutions on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be unconditional in order to end the current situation with Armenia ignoring these international legally binding documents, editor-in-chief of 'National Defense' magazine Igor Korotchenko said at the 'Putin-Aliyev-Rouhani meeting, Prospects for the Development of Cooperation in the Caspian Region' panel session, which was held at the Institute of Strategic Initiatives.

"Speaking from the Russian expert community, from those involved in military analytics, I emphasize that first of all we must clearly understand the thesis of equitable settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. And in addition to the tremendous efforts made by Baku and international sites, and the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's work, an equitable settlement requires raising the status of expert groups that will monitor and give their recommendations and unbiased, honest analytics on the situation in the Karabakh conflict zone," Igor Korotchenko suggested.

According to him, this is one of the measures that will allow bringing the conflict closer to resolution within the framework of existing international documents. "This would contribute to the implementation of those UN Security Council resolutions that are known to everyone and which, unfortunately, are ignored by one of the parties to the conflict," the editor-in-chief of 'National Defense' magazine said, referring to Yerevan’s failure to comply with all four UN Security Council resolutions.

At the same time, it was stressed that Armenia cannot be critical of Russia or Azerbaijan that they actively develop mutually beneficial military-technical cooperation, and that Baku increases its defense capability. "The leaders of our countries said at the recent summits that Azerbaijan bought $5bln-worth military equipment from Russia. I want to emphasize that the Russian weapons supplied to Azerbaijan are not directed against any third country and serve the only purpose - guaranteeing Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and the capabilities of its armed forces to protect the interests of the state in certain force majeure circumstances," Igor Korotchenko explained.

"Azerbaijan's defense industry is moving forward effectively, production of a whole cluster of completely new weapons was mastered, including modern unmanned aerial vehicles," he added.