Russian foreign minister: Nobody wants a new war in Nagorno-Karabakh

Nobody wants a new war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said while meeting with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian on Wednesday.

“We don’t even want to imagine that the war may resume. I am sure that despite certain rhetoric nobody wants this to happen. All of our actions are aimed at finding a mutually acceptable solution,” Lavrov said.

“We are in constant touch with each other on this matter. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs pay regular visits to the capitals of Armenia and Azerbaijan and to the contact line. The presidents of the co-chair states are personally committed to find a solution to this problem. Our president made special efforts last year to settle this conflict and to make the South Caucasus a region of cooperation, where there will be no blockades, sanctions or restrictions,” Lavrov said.

“This would benefit all parties, including our Armenian friends,” he added.

According to the Russian minister, Russia will continue creating conditions for the conflict to be settled peacefully. “We have exchanged views on the situation in the South Caucasus. Russia will continue its active efforts towards peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Lavrov said.

“There was no alternative to peace talks here,” Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said. “Azerbaijan keeps rejecting the co-chairs’ proposals to settle the conflict and build confidence, but we see no alternative to negotiations,” he said.

“Armenia is our ally. Our relations are based on historical, cultural and spiritual closeness. And now that Armenia has joined the European Economic Union, they have risen to a new qualitative level,” Lavrov said.

He stressed the efforts Armenia and Russia are taking to intensify their trade-economic and military-technical relations.

According to Lavrov, Armenia and Russia enjoy quite good trade turnover. “In 2014 it exceeded $1.4bn. We enjoy good relations in energy, investment and baking. Russia is going to help Armenia to extend the life of its nuclear power plant,” Lavrov said.

Nalbandian said that Armenia and Russia enjoyed quite good economic ties.