Azernews.Az

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said the lack of trust between Azerbaijan and Armenia is one of the reasons for the protracted settlement of their conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, Interfax news agency reported.

``One of the main reasons [of the conflict being unresolved] is the insufficient level of mutual trust and suspicions that the other side would fail to fulfill final agreements,`` Lavrov said addressing students of the Moscow State University`s branch in Baku last Wednesday.

``Very profound mutual trust [between the conflict parties] is necessary,`` the minister said.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place in the region since a brutal war between the two South Caucasus neighbors that claimed some 30,000 lives and displaced about one million Azerbaijanis from their homes. Armenia has since occupied a part of Azerbaijan`s territory, defying international law. Peace talks, brokered by the United States, Russia and France through the OSCE Minsk Group, have been largely fruitless so far.

According to Lavrov, all the mediators are ready to provide international guarantees for any agreement to be reached between Baku and Yerevan.

He stressed that unlike other conflicts, the world community has no differences on the Karabakh issue.

``There is no such unity of the international community on any other conflict. This is a unique situation and it has to be taken advantage of. But the key decision must be taken by the conflict parties proper.``

Lavrov noted that the Karabakh conflict should be resolved by the ``people who have lived side by side for centuries``, while the mediators, including Russia, are trying to facilitate these efforts not only by rhetoric but also action.

``As a result, there is now more trust between the leadership of the two countries,`` he said.

Lavrov said Russia, besides its role as a Minsk Group co-chair, has made its own proposals on resolving the Karabakh problem in the last two to three years. In particular, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev personally suggested that the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders begin discussing the issues that remain to be agreed upon.

``During this time the number of these issues has been significantly reduced, and two or three most challenging points remain,`` Lavrov said, adding that Moscow would continue working to facilitate an agreement.

The minister also said a military solution of the conflict was unacceptable.

``I believe this would be a disaster,`` he said. ``There have been enough wars in the post-Soviet space.``

Commenting on the proposal to replace France with the European Union as a co-chair of the mediating Minsk Group, Lavrov said replacement of one of the co-chairs depends on the will of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

``Each of the Minsk Group candidacies had been agreed with Azerbaijan and Armenia, including France, which later joined Russia and USA due to the Europeans` desire to be involved in the conflict settlement.``

``If for some reason any of the candidates no longer suits one of the sides, the latter is entitled to discussing this issue,`` the Russian diplomat said.

Reports said earlier that the European Parliament`s foreign affairs commission had offered to replace France with the EU as a Minsk Group co-chair. But EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule, said on a recent visit to Baku that the bloc had no intention to replace France.

Peace talks are underway on the basis of the Madrid Document, an outline of basic Karabakh settlement principles proposed by the OSCE mediators. The document covers a return to Azerbaijani control of the territories surrounding Nagorno Karabakh -- an Azerbaijani region where ethnic Armenians are running a self-proclaimed republic; a future determination of the region`s legal status; and the right of internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes.