Agreements between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Prague are of "landmark value" - Lavrov

Baku/05.12.22/Turan: Russia supported the agreements between Azerbaijan and Armenia on reaching a peace treaty based on the UN Charter and the Almaty Declaration, the  conclusion from today's statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a joint press conference following talks with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

"We are still ready to assist the parties, it is important to decide on fundamental things. What was agreed upon by the heads of state in Prague is of crucial importance. They reaffirmed their focus on solving all problems on the basis of the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata Declaration," said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

It should be noted that the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991 on the creation of the CIS assumes mutual recognition by all participating states of each other's territorial integrity within the borders of the Soviet republics.

Lavrov also told reporters about the Moscow project to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. "The Moscow project was developed long ago, at the beginning of this year, and handed over to the parties as an indicator of Russia's desire to help find a common base. The project was positively received by both countries. So far, five principles proposed by Azerbaijan have been presented, then there was Pashinyan's reaction to these principles",  he said.

The Russian Foreign Minister also added that during the Washington meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani side presented the next version of a possible document, and after returning from the US capital, the Armenian representatives presented their counterproposals.

Bayramov, for his part, noted that the most important factor for the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan is the full implementation of trilateral statements with the participation of Russia.

However, he continued, a number of circumstances impede this: the Armenian armed formations have not been completely withdrawn from the territory of Azerbaijan, and the mine danger still remains.

Bayramov noted that 2,700 mines produced by Armenia in 2021 were found on the territory of Azerbaijan, which indicates that the Lachin corridor is being used for other purposes.

According to Bayramov, the third round of negotiations on the draft peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan may take place before the end of the year.

“The third package of comments from the Azerbaijani side has already been submitted to the Armenian side, and we think that by the end of this year it is possible to hold a third round of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on a draft peace treaty,” Bayramov said.

Azerbaijan, he said, guarantees the Armenians living in Karabakh the same rights as other citizens.

During the meeting in Moscow, the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Russia also discussed the environmental situation in Karabakh.

"We devoted some time to this topic. We stated that on the ground, as you said, representatives of Azerbaijani departments are working with the participation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. As in other cases, all the questions that our Azerbaijani colleagues have on the topic of implementing the agreements of tripartite statements are of priority importance for us. Our local military is actively engaged in this," Lavrov said.

Last Saturday, specialists from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan and AzerGold CJSC, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, visited Karabakh to discuss issues of monitoring the exploitation of Azerbaijan's natural resources. ---06D---