Zakharova responded to Alen Simonyan`s attempts to shift responsibility for the developments in the Karabakh conflict zone to Russia.

ArmInfo. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova reacted sharply to Armenian Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan's attempts to shift responsibility for events in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone from 2020 to 2023 onto Russia.

"Before arriving in Moscow, the Armenian Security Council Secretary dared to claim that the Russian side allegedly did nothing during the acute phase of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the fall of 2020. I quote: "I literally fell at the feet of the Russians and said: 'We are your brothers, we are your allies, stop this war.' During that period, Russia took no effective steps, while our guys were dying in Nagorno-Karabakh." We don't know at whose feet he fell then, or perhaps he continues to do so. "But it was Russia, and no one else, that stopped the bloodshed in the region," Zakharova said in a statement.

In this vein, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that the trilateral statement signed on the night of November 9-10, 2020, by the leaders of Russia Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and Armenia Nikol Pashinyan declared a complete ceasefire and all military actions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

"These are not 'abstract steps,' but concrete, effective measures, preceded by numerous high-level contacts. As a result, a Russian peacekeeping contingent was deployed in the region. "Our peacekeepers, including at the cost of their own lives, ensured security for the civilian population, provided humanitarian aid, and carried out mine clearance," she added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry representative also noted that peace has come to the region based on a series of subsequent trilateral high-level agreements in 2021-2022. She noted that a "roadmap" for Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization has been created, including the development of a peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku, the unblocking of transport communications, the launch of the border delimitation process, and the resolution of humanitarian issues.

"I emphasize that all these agreements remain in force; neither side has announced its withdrawal from them. And at this moment, the peace process between Yerevan and Baku, which currently prefer to work directly, is moving forward, including on the basis of proposals from Russian mediators. Let us also remind Simonyan about Prague. More precisely, about the night of October 6-7, 2022, when, at a summit under the auspices of the European Union, Pashinyan recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. "To speak of some 'effective steps' Russia failed to take while downplaying the efforts and sacrifices of Russian peacekeepers is to distort the truth," Zakharova concluded.

It should be noted that on November 7, during a discussion with representatives of the diaspora, Alen Simonyan accused the Russian Federation of provoking the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, refusing to assist Armenia in the military operations against Azerbaijan, and shifted responsibility for the fall of Artsakh to the Russian Federation.