Lavrov's visit to Azerbaijan: Baku welcomes Moscow's proposals on Karabakh

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already started his meeting with the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov.

It is known that the central topic of the talks is the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. In addition, the sides will discuss development of bilateral relations, APA reports.

Elmar Mammadyarov noted at a joint briefing with Sergey Lavrov that information provided by Moscow on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement creates a positive mood.

At the same time, the Azerbaijani Minister noted that it is important to move step by step for the conflict’s resolution.

Sergei Lavrov, in turn, said that "Russia and Azerbaijan have partnership relations". "We have an intensive political dialogue, the economic and trade relations of the two countries require special attention," he said.

Speaking about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Minister noted that yesterday's meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev was quite productive, and will make it possible to move forward in the conflict’s settlement after the meetings in St. Petersburg and Vienna.

Russian Foreign Minister noted that the details of the meetings on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are not discussed for known reasons. "It is necessary to be careful towards those sprouts of hope so that not to hamper the progress. This is the ethic norm of any diplomatic process. But there are grounds to presume that currently we are closer to success than ever before," he said.

Sergei Lavrov arrived in Baku yesterday evening and immediately met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who noted that there is currently a very active dynamics in the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The director of the Institute of Political Studies, Sergey Markov, speaking with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that it's the right time for positive changes in the process of peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. "April clashes showed that the conflict is not frozen and highlighted the need to move forward in solving the problem. After which a pause was made to calm the wave of emotions in Baku and Yerevan. The negotiations have been resumed and a serious progress was achieved at a meeting mediated by Vladimir Putin, now the working group is working on specifics," he reminded the preconditions.

Markov expects that the great historical agreement on Karabakh based on the 'Kazan formula' can be signed already this year. "The formula includes a return of the territory in exchange for lifting of the blockade. The Armenian side returns those occupied Azerbaijani regions around Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan opens its border, the negotiations on Karabakh's status starts. A demilitarized zone in the liberated areas is also introduced. As I understand, the Armenian side proposes to return only five regions and Azerbaijan insists on the six and a half, saying that 'the Lachin corridor' for communication between Armenia and Karabakh is enough," the expert said.

These negotiations are particularly important because the sides have ceased to give any specific comments. "There is a diplomatic tradition. When nothing happened, diplomats give a lot of details to pretend that there is some progress. And when a progress becomes a reality, they keep a very high level of secrecy," he stressed.

The political scientist said that today Russia is set for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as never before. "First of all, Moscow doesn't need another war on the periphery. The second motivation is that we need to involve western countries in cooperation, reducing the confrontation with the West without taking any position. Thirdly, the economic revival of the region is a wonderful opportunities for cooperation with both Azerbaijan and Armenia," Sergey Markov listed.