Moscow considers that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh can not be determined by means of elections in the region, reports Interfax, citing an official representative of the Foreign Ministry .
"We believe that its status should be determined by means of diplomacy and negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. Meanwhile, Moscow does not consider that Karabakh elections can somehow effect the settlement process in the region," Andrei Nesterenko said on Monday.
Nesterenko also confirmed that Russia supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, just like other principles of international law. He also said Russia provides all possible assistance in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement in close cooperation with its Minsk Group partners.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has severely criticized the polls. The supreme representative of the European Parliament on foreign policy issues Katrin Ashton said that EU did not recognize the constitutional and legal grounds of these elections. This view was shared by the US State Department.
On Sunday parliamentary polls were held in the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. The parliament consists of 33 deputies, 16 of which are elected under majority voting and 17 under proportional election system.
