On Nov. 6, Russia’s Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov was invited to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, where Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov met with him.

At the meeting, the Russian ambassador was handed a note of protest of the Foreign Ministry in connection with the visit of Masis Mayilyan and Lernik Hovhannisyan to Russia.

In a response statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry, it was noted that the trip of these persons, even if it took place, was exclusively of private nature.

As for the references to certain contacts between Mayilyan and Hovhannisyan with Russian experts in the “permanent representative office of “Artsakh” in Russia”, the Russian Foreign Ministry again emphasized that such an “office” isn’t registered in the state bodies of the Russian Federation as a diplomatic mission of a sovereign state because Russia doesn’t recognize the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic”.

The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasizes that, for its part, it will continue to contribute to the achievement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, both as part of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and as an individual party to the negotiations process, taking into consideration its relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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