Sergey Lavrov makes statement after tripartite meeting

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the
trilateral meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov proved fruitful.

We presented Russia’s views based on the reports made by the
Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh and we set out the measures that
should be taken without delay to supply people in Karabakh with food, medicines
and basic necessities, and to ensure uninterrupted electricity and gas supply
in the interests of the public, the Armenians, and (other) people who live in
that region.

He noted that the sides referred to another important
provision of tripartite agreements, namely the freedom of movement and the
unblocking of transport and economic links.

“We highlighted delimitation issues, which are closely
connected with the entire range of issues on our agenda, and are related to the
signing of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan as soon as possible.

We hope that this large-scale negotiating process will
culminate in the signing of such a treaty, which will crown the efforts of
Armenians and Azerbaijanis launched during the trilateral meetings with
President Vladimir Putin.

It is an uphill path. There are many important and
complicated issues to be addressed. The most delicate of them has been and
remains the issue of rights and safety guarantees for Armenians in
Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of ensuring the territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan under the 1991 Declaration signed by the leaders of the former
Soviet republics in Almaty. Its viability has been confirmed by the Azerbaijani
and Armenian authorities today. This is the basis for working on the peace
treaty.

Armenia is aware of the importance of convincing
Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to hold meetings with Azerbaijani representatives as
soon as possible to coordinate their rights under the relevant legislation and
Azerbaijan’s international commitments, including numerous conventions on the
rights of national minorities.

Azerbaijan, acting on a mutually agreed basis, is also ready
to provide the same guarantees to persons residing on its territory,” the
Russian Foreign Minister noted.

He also noted that the sides agreed to work towards the
resumption of dialogue between civil society representatives and political
experts.  Russia also proposed that a trilateral dialogue between members
of parliament begin.