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>.