Russian Foreign Ministry: West seeks to ignite Yerevan-Baku conflict

The South Caucasus is a key region where peace is possible, but the West is blatantly meddling, hindering the of relations between Azerbaijan-Armenia settlement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova expressed hope that peace initiatives formulated jointly with Russia would be used in resolving the conflict between Baku and Yerevan.

"This region can be viewed as a focal point in the truest sense, as another region where the peace initiatives which the sides have worked out jointly with Russia will hopefully be implemented," the Russian diplomat told Sputnik radio on Wednesday.

Zakharova criticized the West’s blatant attempts to meddle in the situation in the South Caucasus. According to her, such a course is being pursued not to resolve the conflict, but to attain "quite the opposite goals," a trend she said Russia had been witnessing for years.

Zakharova recalled no examples of a successful normalization involving Western partners, as she said that the number of conflicts caused or initiated by the collective West had increased.

This week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a visit to Baku.