Lavrov on the status of Karabakh, on the Lachin corridor, connection with Nakhchivan and contacts between Yerevan and Karabakh

Moscow/18.01.21/Turan: The status of Nagorno-Karabakh was deliberately not mentioned in the joint statement of the three leaders on November 9. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will deal with the issue of the region's status. "They have now resumed their contacts with the parties and are going to go to the region once again," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference on Monday.

"The problem of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is controversial if we take the positions of Yerevan and Baku, and therefore the three leaders decided to bypass this issue and leave it for the future," Lavrov said.

The diplomat added that discussion of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh will be possible in the future, and this topic has yet to be returned, but now it would be premature.

“I really hope that emotions will now be relegated to the background.  Now is not the time to put forward the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh as a priority.

The status is to be returned, and the main thing is that on this issue there are concrete, calm legal discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan based on good-neighborliness that needs to be restored in the region," Lavrov said.

The minister noted that in addition to the agreement on the Lachin corridor, which will have a new route, "a reliable, permanent connection will also be laid between the main territory of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan, and this is an agreement fixed by the heads of state."

"If we agree with that, and everyone agrees with this, that there should be a connection between the Armenians of Karabakh and the Armenians of Armenia, then I see no reason why it is necessary to prevent contacts at this level," the Russian Foreign Minister said. In his words, "Armenian officials are involved in providing humanitarian assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh, which does not cause any negative emotions in Baku, and it would be strange if it were otherwise." At the same time, according to Lavrov, "the fact that these Armenian officials are making rather politicized statements in Karabakh probably causes tension."

He added that Moscow is now paying special attention to "establishing contacts between the leaderships of Azerbaijan and Armenia, creating an atmosphere of trust."

"I give you one hundred percent guarantee that the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers is a form that will ensure the interests of both the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides," Lavrov said. -02D-