"We are here as part of an inter-ministerial delegation based on your agreement that we would carry out such a visit in a fairly short time. And this reflects our intentions, the intentions of the President of the Russian Federation to support, actively support efforts to implement the agreements of 9 November and, at the same time, emphasize the special strategic nature of our partnership with the Republic of Azerbaijan. The conversations that will be held with our colleagues in their areas of our interaction today will, of course, be aimed at ensuring that our bilateral relations advance and flourish for the benefit of our peoples."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made these remarks at his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. 

"We highly appreciated the position of Azerbaijan in support of the 9 November statement. As you said, dear Ilham Heydar oglu, not everyone immediately perceived this agreement correctly, trying to interpret it not from the point of view of the result, which consisted in stopping the bloodshed, in the transition to a peaceful life, in establishing a recovery process, and in solving humanitarian problems, and attempted to interpret it through the prism of geopolitical games, which, of course, does not meet the requirements of the modern world. We particularly appreciate the fact that the President of Azerbaijan, dear Ilham Heydar oglu, always emphasizes the task of reconciliation in this region, which, as we are deeply convinced, is the whole point of further work if we really think about the people and not about some introduced interests.

Through our peacekeepers, together with our Azerbaijani colleagues and with the participation of the Armenian side, we actively coordinate specific ways of solving humanitarian problems in the interests of returning people. This is about the arrangement of civilian infrastructure, the establishment of everything necessary to unblock economic and transport communications and, of course, the involvement of international organizations, the Red Cross, UN agencies on refugees, food affairs, children's problems, UNESCO, which should be more actively involved in the issue of preservation of cultural and religious heritage in this ancient region," Russian FM said. 

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