Russian Ambassador at Large I.V. Popov said that discussions of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement are intensive. The sides are negotiating principles to form a peace treaty, RIA Novosti reports.
Three meetings have been held between Azerbaijan and Armenia this year to clarify positions on controversial issues. Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan met in Sochi in January and announced plans to reach an agreement on the basic principles of settling the conflict. The statement proves devotion to the peaceful process, the ambassador says.
Russia, USA and France are co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. They see no other way to settle the conflict than via diplomacy. Leaders of the three states said at the G8 summit in Deauville last year that use of force could escalate confrontation and cause instability, Popov reminds.
The official said that the role of Russia is to use its ties with Baku and Yerevan to find a solution, for example, by holding trilateral meetings of Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. The Moscow Declaration of 2008 was an essential step in the process, because it was the first document signed by both the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents. It states that both sides will enforce stability and security by resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict according to political means and the international law.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held over 10 meetings with his counterparts in 2008-2012. They also discussed reduction of tensions. They agreed to exchange prisoners and bodies of dead servicemen in the last 1.5 years, investigate incidents in the area and organize humanitarian contacts.
Renewal of dialogue between scientists and publicity of the two states is to help build links between the two neighbor states. Russian Special Presidential Envoy M.Y. Shvydkoy has recently organized such meetings in Moscow, opened the Musical Theater, held a round-table conference on cooperation in settling conflicts at the Public Chamber, the ambassador notes.
