Moscow reiterated several times that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must only be settled by political and diplomatic means, according to the spokesperson.
“I would like to reiterate that among the principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement are joint statements adopted from 2009 to 2013 of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents that the status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined based on the legally binding expression of will of the region's people,” Zakharova said.
Russia, along with the other co-chair countries, is ready to provide all necessary assistance for this goal to be fulfilled, she noted.
The spokesperson added that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement continues to remain on Moscow’s agenda.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.
A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.
The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.
Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.
Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.
Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.
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