The Azerbaijani and Russian foreign ministers discussed Azerbaijan's appeal on investigating the ecological situation in liberated Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the press conference with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Moscow on December 5, AzVision.az reports.

"The Azerbaijani agencies are working jointly with Russian peacekeepers on liberated lands in this regard. All the questions that our Azerbaijani neighbours have about the implementation of trilateral agreements are of utmost necessity for us. Russian military servicemen are actively engaged in these activities," he stated.

Azerbaijan has earlier sent specialists to investigate the illicit exploitation of mineral resources on the Khankandi-Shusha road.

Employees of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the State Property Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold CJSC having crossed to the Azerbaijani territory of Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment continued negotiations with the command of peacekeepers at the Peacekeeping Force Headquarters in Khojaly.

The ministers expressed serious concerns and discontent over the illicit exploitation of minerals as part of illegal economic activities carried out in Azerbaijan's territories, where Russian peacekeeping forces are temporarily deployed, as well as over the resulting environmental and other consequences. The sides emphasized the importance of monitoring and inventorying property, as well as conducting ecological studies at deposits where illegal mining is carried out.

On December 3, at around 18:00 (GMT+4), employees of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, the State Property Service under the Ministry of Economy, and AzerGold CJSC returned to Shusha city.

Following the discussions held at the Khojaly headquarters, a road map is being prepared for working in the mentioned areas.

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