No agreements can be reached without the consent of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh – Sergey Lavrov
No agreements can be reached without the consent of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh – Sergey Lavrov
It is impossible to reach any agreements on Nagorno-Karabakh without the consent of the people of that region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday following talks with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, TASS agency reported.
When asked about Russia’s attitude towards the proposal to return Nagorno-Karabakh to the negotiating table as a full-fledged participant in the settlement process, the minister said it was up to the parties themselves "to coordinate and determine the composition of the participants in the negotiations." "At an early stage of consultations and subsequent negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, when hostilities stopped, Nagorno-Karabakh was a party to the relevant agreements and talks, which began after the cessation of hostilities. At some point, the Armenian leadership, one of the previous presidents, made the decision that Yerevan would represent the interests of Nagorno-Karabakh," he explained.
"As members of the group of co-chairs, while promoting that process, we can only seek to ensure that it proceeds in line with the general consent. It is clear to everyone that it will be impossible to finalize any agreements without the consent of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia will just not support them," Lavrov stressed.
According to Russia’s top diplomat, at today’s meeting, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan mentioned his public statement, which said that "the final agreements should take into account the interests of Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan." "It is hard to argue with that," the minister concluded.
As for the parties to the conflict, they should be ready for a compromise, which should reflect a real and fair balance of interests, Russia's top diplomat told a meeting with his Armenian counterpart Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Monday.
"The principles of territorial integrity, self-determination and exclusively peaceful settlement of disputes are enshrined in all documents that are discussed by the sides. In any case, a final solution should take into account all these principles, and neither Yerevan nor Baku argues against this. Any treaty, moreover on this challenging issue, is a compromise," Lavrov said.