MOSCOW, Mar 20 Western countries are undertaking » overt attempts» to quarrel Russia and Armenia, they are doomed to failure, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
«We see undisguised attempts by Western countries to quarrel Russia and Armenia — let's call a spade a spade — to undermine the regional security architecture, thinking and caring not about the interests of the countries located here, but about their own geopolitical interests,» he said during a press conference. following the talks with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. Noting that such trends in the situation in the South Caucasus are alarming, Lavrov expressed confidence that «such attempts are doomed to failure.»
According to him, the United States, the EU and NATO are engaged in «diplomatic raiding», trying to subjugate the trilateral agreements between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, «imposing their supervision» and «directly undermining» the key principles of the agreement — as in resolving issues of unblocking transport and economic relations, as well as in matters of delimitation of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan and assistance to the parties in signing a peace treaty.
Yerevan and Baku last year, with the mediation of Russia, the United States and the European Union, began discussing a future peace treaty. In early February of this year, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan stated that Armenia received Azerbaijan's next proposals on a peace treaty and is studying them. Later, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Yerevan, in turn, also submitted proposals for a peace treaty to Baku. Following the talks with Pashinyan in Munich on February 18, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that «the main issue is that this peace treaty must be drawn up on the basis of international norms and principles, any provisions on Karabakh are unacceptable.»
At the end of September 2020, hostilities resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh, which became a continuation of a long-term conflict and led to casualties among the civilian population. The parties made several attempts to conclude a truce, but the tripartite agreement reached on the night of November 10 was successful. With the mediation of Moscow, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to completely cease fire, remaining in their positions, and to exchange prisoners and the bodies of the dead. In addition, the Kelbajar and Lachin regions, as well as part of the Aghdam region, which were previously under the control of the unrecognized NKR, crossed Baku. Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in the region, including the Lachin corridor.