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Putin: We offered Armenia to return five regions, but did not agree, the result is obvious

27 October 2022 21:17 (UTC +04:00)

For many years, we have held a dialogue with the Armenian side and we proposed to settle the Karabakh issue that we should act on the normalization of relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, speaking at the Valdai International Discussion Club plenary meeting Thursday, APA's Moscow bureau reports.

Putin noted that Russia offered Armenia to return five regions to Azerbaijan and keep two regions - Kalbajar and Lachi for connection with Karabakh: "After all, Armenia actually controlled seven regions of Azerbaijan. We suggested that he keep two districts. At some stage, we will agree with the Azerbaijani side. Return five districts. They were not needed. Saving is pointless. They are empty districts, people have left there and have actually been expelled from those areas. Why should they be kept? It doesn't make any sense. But the two regions connected with Karabakh are quite large. We believe that it would be fair to return the refugees there. This would be a good step for the normalization of the situation in the region in general. But the Armenian leadership went its own way. As it turns out, this led to today's situation."