The issue of the rights of Karabakh Armenians should be resolved in the context of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan - Lavrov

Baku/25.07.23/Turan: The issue of guarantees of the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians will be resolved in the context of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The Armenian side understands the need to convince the Armenians of Karabakh to meet with Azerbaijani representatives as soon as possible to coordinate their rights within the framework of Azerbaijan's legislation and international obligations. These messages voiced in the comments Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after his meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the talks on July 25 in Moscow with the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia - Ceyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan in bilateral and trilateral formats "useful".

"We outlined to our interlocutors the assessments of the Russian side, taking into account the reports made by the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, about the steps that it is extremely desirable to take promptly, without delay, in the interests of providing the population of Karabakh with food, medicines, essentials, to ensure uninterrupted electricity and gas supply. This is in the interests of ordinary people, Armenians, residents of the region," Lavrov is quoted as saying in a message on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Russia, as a key mediator in the peace process, starting with the trilateral statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020, is interested in an early resolution of the crisis in full accordance with the trilateral statements that the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia adopted in 2020, 2021 and 2022, Lavrov continued.

"We talked about another important provision contained in these agreements. I mean ensuring unhindered movement, unblocking transport and economic communications throughout the region.

Special attention was paid to the issues of delimitation, which are closely related to the entire set of issues under discussion and the issues of the early conclusion of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan," the Russian Foreign Minister continued.

He expects that "the culmination of a great negotiation process" will be the signing of a peace treaty, which "will draw a line under the efforts of Armenians and Azerbaijanis initiated during their trilateral meetings with President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

"The path is not easy. There are many complex and important issues to be solved. The most sensitive of them was and remains the problem of guaranteeing the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of ensuring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in full compliance with the 1991 Declaration signed by the leaders of the former Soviet republics in Alma-Ata. Its effectiveness has been confirmed today by both the Azerbaijani and Armenian leadership. In accordance with this, work is being built on a peace treaty," Lavrov further stressed.

In his opinion, "the Armenian side understands the need to convince the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to meet with Azerbaijani representatives as soon as possible to coordinate the rights arising from the relevant legislation and international obligations (in this case, Azerbaijan, note. Lavrov), including numerous conventions on ensuring the rights of national minorities."

"The Azerbaijani side is ready to provide the same guarantees on a mutual basis with respect to persons living on its territory. Armenians are ready to do the same regarding the application of all conventions to citizens residing in the Republic of Armenia," Lavrov said.

Lavrov sees the closest result at this stage as "reaching an agreement in a trilateral working group headed by three deputy prime ministers who are engaged in coordinating specific issues of unblocking transport communications in the region." In this context, prospects will also open up for the implementation of promising projects in the transport sector, which already have not only a regional, but also a broader character, Lavrov believes.

We agreed to try to resume the dialogue on the second "track" between representatives of civil society and political scientists. We also hope (we proposed it today) to start a trilateral dialogue through parliamentarians.

"We hope that the negotiation process will continue. We understand the interest of both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to use intermediaries not only in the person of the Russian Federation, but also others. We welcome the desire of those who are sincerely interested in helping Baku and Yerevan to find agreements, who, like us, are working in this direction. But there should be no attempts to artificially impose certain agreements not based on the interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples, but for the sake of beautiful headlines in the media, for the sake of geopolitical and domestic political considerations," Lavrov said.

According to him, work on the preparation of further meetings will continue. There are plans to hold another summit of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia this year, Lavrov concluded.

After Lavrov's statement today, Karabakh Armenians have no choice but to reintegrate into Azerbaijan. Earlier, the US and the EU also supported the principle of mutual recognition by Azerbaijan and Armenia of each other's territorial integrity within the borders of the two republics at the time of the collapse of the USSR.—06B-