Russia to do utmost to contribute to settlement of Karabakh conflict
By Rashid Shirinov
Russia will do its utmost to make a constructive contribution to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said at a press conference on June 20.
“First, Russia is fully committed to its role as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. And secondly, Russia will do its utmost to make a constructive and effective contribution to the settlement of the existing crisis and the normalization of relations between these two countries,” she said.
“This is our traditional position, and it is a very serious issue for us,” Zakharova added.
Russia, along with the U.S. and France, is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.
The two countries fought a lengthy war that ended with signing a fragile ceasefire in 1994. Since the war, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign state with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Until now, Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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