First of all, the Foreign Ministry noted that the South Caucasus is very important for Russia. "One thing is certain: the strategic course for close cooperation with partners in the CIS space has been and remains unchanged. At the same time, the South Caucasus is one of the most important regional directions of the foreign policy line of Russia", the ministry stressed.
"For us, of course, it is deeply indifferent what is happening in this neighboring region with Russia. We are consistently interested in restoring peace and tranquility, opening borders, resuming trade and economic relations. That is why assistance in the settlement, in particular, of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is one of our priorities fixed in the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation", the ministry added.
It has also noted that Russia will continue to conduct the mediation work taking into account the Russian co-chairmanship in the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as the agreements reached with the leadership of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the trilateral format.
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, in 1992 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 the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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