Russia does not feel much optimism about Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

Moscow does not believe that the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh can be settled shortly, but it will keep working towards the settlement, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday.


"I wouldn't say we are feeling very optimistic about the settlement of that conflict in the near future, but we will continue working persistently both with Baku and Yerevan, and in cooperation with our partners," he told reporters.


"After the spring conflict, the Russian side has been making active efforts, of course not only alone, but also in cooperation with partners in the Minsk Group," Ushakov said. He said progress was seen at first, but then the situation deadlocked once again.


The aide declined to disclose the 'backstage' of negotiations, saying only that a lot of options were being looked into. "So far no reasonable basis is seen for specific optimism," he reiterated.


In reply to the question about supplies of weapons to Armenia from Russia, Ushakov said "Russia is an ally of Armenia, we are cooperating in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and in bilateral format," he said.


"So we have the right to supply the arms on which we agree with the partners, there is nothing unexpected here for anybody, and I believe for the Azerbaijani partners either," he added, noting that weapons were also supplied to Azerbaijan.


On April 5, Russia mediated a meeting between Colonel-General Najmeddin Sadykov, the chief of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces General Staff, and Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, the chief of the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff, that took place in Moscow. The sides agreed to cease the hostilities on the line disengaging the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh. The defense ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia announced a ceasefire on the contact line as of 11:00 Moscow Time the same day. Ever since, the parties occasionally report brief exchanges of fire along the contact line.


A trilateral statement adopted at the meeting of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in St. Petersburg on June 20 reiterated the parties' commitment to normalizing the situation along the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh

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