Tuesday, February 11 2020 16:42

ArmInfo. Russia has always taken an active mediating position.  Assistance to the parties in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict is one of our unconditional  foreign policy priorities, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko  stated this in an interview to the Russia Today news agency, the  press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"The Karabakh issue remains in the focus of attention of the  President of Russia, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. This  circumstance attaches particular importance to the mediation  activities being carried out, defines increased attention to its  results. The 1994 Ceasefire Agreement, which is still the basis for  settlement, is among the documents signed with the direct assistance  of Russia. The adoption of the Moscow Declaration in 2008, which  speaks of a political settlement on of the Karabakh conflict, is an  important stage in the process of mediation efforts. This is the  first and so far the only document on the NK settlement, which the  leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia signed. As you know, Russia played  a decisive role in ending the large-scale hostilities in 2016 by  inviting the chiefs of the general staffs of Azerbaijan and Armenia  to Moscow ", Rudenko said.

He also noted that Russia carries out its mediation mission in close  contact with French and American partners.

"Last April in Moscow, Sergey Lavrov organized meeting of the foreign  ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, at which the co-chairs of the  OSCE Minsk Group were also present. In order to build on the  agreements reached between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan in Vienna  last year, specific proposals aimed at creating an atmosphere  conducive to the resumption of the negotiation process on the essence  of the settlement were developed. Among them are measures to further  stabilize the situation in the conflict zone, to facilitate the fate  of persons in custody on the territory of the parties. It was agreed  on mutual trips of media representatives, and some key issues of  settlement were considered. A number of these proposals have been  implemented. The situation at the border and the line of contact  remains relatively calm. There is a communication line between  Yerevan and Baku. Mutual trips of journalists were carried out. The  captured Zaven Karapetyan and Ilvin Ibragimov were returned. Work  continues on other prisoners. The ICRC is connected to it. We believe  that all this testifies to the intention of the parties to take  concrete steps aimed at preparing the population for peace. This, in  particular, was discussed at a recent meeting of the Foreign  Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Geneva. The parties declare  their readiness to continue the search for compromise solutions. We  support this attitude. There is a basis for continuing work. The main  thing is to show political will, "the Deputy Foreign Minister of the  Russian Federation concluded.