Azernews.Az

Russia is "doubtful" about the possibility of Turkey’s becoming a co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group brokering settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict at this stage, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said.
Andrei Nesterenko said Moscow has not yet received a formal proposal from Azerbaijan on Ankara’s co-chairmanship. Furthermore, transferring the issue "into the practical realm" requires at least the consent of both sides, Nesterenko said.
"And since the process of ratifying the protocols on normalizing Turkey-Armenia relations has been suspended, it is hard to bind hopes with such agreement," he said.
The ministry spokesman also commented on Iran’s initiative to broker settlement of the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
"As far as I know, Iran’s proposal mainly pertained to holding a trilateral meeting between the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Iranian foreign ministers. Naturally, we have no objections regarding such a meeting. If it takes place, we should wait for its outcomes, and only after that one may talk about Iran’s possible mediation in the conflict settlement."
Lately, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki offered to the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders Tehran’s assistance in advancing Garabagh settlement, and both sides welcomed the proposal.
Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Armenia continues to occupy Upper Garabagh and seven other Azerbaijani districts in defiance of international law. OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.*