Russia could act as a guarantor in finding ways out of Karabakh crisis, Putin says

Armenia and Azerbaijan want to find a way out of the Karabakh crisis and Russia could become a guarantor, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. 

The official website of the Kremlin quotes Putin as saying: "In fact, I believe that both Armenia and Azerbaijan really want to find a way out of this situation in order to live in peace and harmony, to cooperate, and to grow their respective economies." "This is our goal, the goal of a settlement. And the goal is to achieve these results," he added.  "Azerbaijan has similar goals. My recent contacts with President Aliyev in Baku bear this out. However, it is necessary to find approaches and arrangements where, as I mentioned, no one feels like a winner or a loser. There must be a solution developed by the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan that is accepted by the societies of both countries. That is the most important thing. Russia, as well as other countries of the Minsk Group, could act as a guarantor, and adopt corresponding UNSC resolutions, if necessary," Putin said.

When commenting on the arms supply, the Russian president said:  "As for the weapons, we have a programme on this with Armenia. Armenia is a CSTO member and our ally. We have certain mutual obligations, and Russia has always kept its obligations, has always fulfilled them. In today's arms market, any country can buy almost any weapon. A country such as Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country of almost 10 million people with a fast-growing economy, as well as sufficiently large gold and currency reserves can, of course, buy weapons anywhere it likes".

"However, I would rather not focus on the military side of things now. If we want to resolve this problem, we should use peaceful means," he noted. At the same time, Putin refused to comment on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's statement that the Armenian side has allegedly promised to return part of the districts of Nagorno-Karabakh. "First of all, I don't believe it is my job to comment on the statements of my colleagues, whether in Azerbaijan, Armenia, or anywhere else. I think that if you want to get a complete answer to your question, you should ask the person who made the statement," he said.

"However, I think everyone understands that whenever there is a difficult process of searching for reconciliation and compromise underway, all political and diplomatic means are used in the course of these rather complex activities, including the media, in order to stake out the positions of the sides. There is nothing unusual about it. It is, in fact, common practice," Putin stressed.