Russian Foreign Minister on Likelihood of Participation of Karabakh in Negotiations to Resolve Conflict

Moscow / 02.11.18 / Turan: It is unlikely that it will be possible to negotiate a serious settlement of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh until the political situation in Armenia stabilizes, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"The agreement that was reached during the meeting of the acting Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan in Dushanbe was that contacts should be continued, that the Foreign Ministers would meet and that, of course, both Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to work with the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We welcome such an agreement," Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow on November 2.

"We understand that until internal political processes are completed, such turbulent ones that we are now seeing, concrete ways out of this crisis and ensuring a full-fledged Nagorno-Karabakh settlement can hardly be considered seriously," he added.

Lavrov expressed skepticism about the likelihood of a change in the format of negotiations.

"To change the current bilateral format, the consent of both parties is required. As far as we know, there is no such agreement," he said, answering a question about the possibility of involving Nagorno-Karabakh in negotiations.

This issue must be resolved by the parties to the conflict themselves. "At one time, the Karabakh representatives participated in the talks between Baku and Yerevan. At the suggestion of the Armenian leadership, this practice was changed and negotiations have been conducted directly between Armenia and Azerbaijan for many years," Lavrov noted. -02D-