Russia does not intend to push away other countries from the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the St. Petersburg meeting of the presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia proved it. That is what the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said during a weekly briefing.
"Concerns that Russia is coming up with a new format for the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution, pushing the other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group away from the negotiation process, are baseless. The meeting in St. Petersburg showed that these are baseless rumors and [conclusions derived from] unprofessional analysis. The sides have used a similar format previously to discuss sensitive issues. Everything happens in close contact with the other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group," Zakharova stressed.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the representatives of the Minsk Group co-chair countries have been informed about the meeting in advance and attended it in St. Petersburg. "As you remember, we have published an article about the meeting of the Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin with the Ambassador of France to discuss the upcoming meeting. We have preserved the potential formed over the years within the framework of the Minsk Group," she noted.
At the same time, a trilateral format has also proved to be effective. "The sides spoke publicly in favor of such meetings, which is an important indication that such format is needed. All our efforts are focused on ensuring that both Armenia and Azerbaijan make progress on this issue. The fact that the sides themselves appreciated this meeting and our efforts is the best proof that it was useful. I also read a lot of messages from our American and European partners, who spoke in support of the outcome of the meeting and highly appreciated it," Maria Zakharova said.
The diplomat said that, according to the agreed statement, "in order to stabilize the situation in the conflict zone and create an atmosphere for advancing the peace process, the presidents agreed to increase the number of observers in the conflict zone". "There was also an agreement on continuing the recent ceasefire along the contact line," she added.
The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry also called on the media and analysts "to be guided by the original statements, and not by the attempts to interpret the results of the meeting"
