There is nothing more to say if Armenia itself recognized Karabakh as  part of Azerbaijan - Putin

ArmInfo.Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow proposed a settlement option, by  which Karabakh, Kelbajar and Lachin regions would remain under the  jurisdiction of Armenia. He said at the plenary meeting of the  Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.  

Answering the question about  "Armenia's turnaround", in particular in connection with the  Armenian- American exercises that started yesterday, the visit of the  wife of the Prime Minister of Armenia to Kiev, and the "very  unflattering remarks" of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the  Republic of Armenia addressed to the Russian Foreign Ministry, and  how this will affect the situation in border with Azerbaijan and what  can this cost to Armenia?, the Russian head of state noted: "I don't  think there is any kind of turnaround."

<We see and understand what is happening. There is a lot to be said  about this. We offered our settlement options, this is well known.  Armenia controlled seven regions, which it retained under its control  after the famous Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. We proposed to reach  an agreement with Azerbaijan in such a way that the two regions -  Kelbajar and Lachin - in fact and all of Karabakh remain under the  jurisdiction of Armenia.

But the Armenian leadership did not agree with this, although we  tried to convince the Armenian leadership for 10 or 15 years. [There  were] different options, but in the end it all came down to this.  When we ask them - what will you do, they answered us - we will  fight. Ultimately, everything came to the situation that has now  developed.

But it's not just about the results of the latest conflict. The point  is that the Armenian leadership basically recognized the sovereignty  of Azerbaijan over Karabakh. And in their Prague statement they  simply recorded this on paper.

Now President Aliyev tells me - well, you know that Armenia has  recognized that Karabakh is ours, and that the Karabakh status issue  of is no longer raised; it has been resolved. The Armenian leadership  publicly stated this, also considering the entire territory within  the framework of the Azerbaijan SSR until 1991, as well as specifying  a figure that includes the territory of Karabakh itself. This  happened, it was not our decision. This is the decision of the  Armenian leadership today. And if so, they tell us, then now you must  resolve all issues with us on a bilateral basis, if you want to do  something about Karabakh. And what can we say? There's nothing to say  here if Armenia itself recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan,"  said the Russian leader.

Of course, according to him, there are other issues related to the  humanitarian component and the mandate of Russian peacekeepers.  <That's right, yes. The mandate is still in force, but in terms of  humanitarian issues, issues preventing any kind of ethnic cleansing,  which naturally have not disappeared. I completely agree with this. I  hope that the Azerbaijani leadership, as they have always told us and  are still telling us, is not interested in any ethnic cleansing.  Moreover, on the contrary, we are interested in this process going  smoothly," Putin said.," Putin said.  When asked how justified  Yerevan's accusations against Moscow are that Russia and the CSTO did  not help and did not open the Lachin corridor, which is why  Nagorno-Karabakh is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe, Putin  said: "If Armenia recognized that Nagorno-Karabakh is part of  Azerbaijan -that's it. What are we talking about? This is a key part  of the whole problem. The status of Karabakh was determined by  Armenia itself>.