Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said Moscow is not opposed to drawing new mediators to the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh upon consent of the conflicting sides.

The statement was made during President Medvedev’s visit to Armenia at a joint news conference with his counterpart Serzh Sargsyan on Friday, Russian RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Asked about the possibility of altering the make-up of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group and Azerbaijan’s alleged attempts "to take the issue out of the Minsk Group framework", Medvedev said the main point is the result, not the institutions employed to achieve it.

"Secondly, the mediating institutions used or proposed for use have to be accepted by the parties and, at the same time, by [other] participants of the negotiating process. It is not possible to impose mediators that either side does not want or in whose impartiality it has substantial doubts."

According to Medvedev, if the sides agree to draw other participants to the peace process, Russia will accept it.

"The main thing is for work to be effective. Frankly speaking, any effectiveness is currently displayed only by the Minsk Group. Other potential participants of negotiations are quite far from the topic of the negotiations, are not aware of the details, and this complicates availing of their mediating potential."

Medvedev said Russia was ready to continue fulfilling its mediating mission in the Karabakh settlement.

"The Russian Federation will assist in seeking a political solution to the conflict within the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as within bilateral relations and on the basis of mutually beneficial agreements."

Armenia and Azerbaijan waged a war in the early 1990s, which claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about one million Azerbaijanis. Armenia has been occupying over 20% of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory since then. Peace talks, brokered by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France, have largely accomplished no result so far.