Lavrov: The Karabakh conflict is getting too protracted

The foreign ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan have exchanged their views on the Karabakh issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Moscow today, on May 25, an EADaily correspondent informs.

As Lavrov says, Moscow sees assistance to negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement as one of top priorities in its foreign policy. According to him, the Russian party will continue active contribution to the search for solutions in the bilateral format and as a co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group.

Nobody denied the fact that the conflict is getting too protracted, Lavrov noted adding that there is real basis for coming to consensus. “Everyone agrees with this too. Probably, no we need this understanding being translated into the language of certain terms,” he said, while mentioning this was not an easy task. “Truly speaking, I look at the current situation with cautious, but at the same time growing optimism,” he stressed.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister also said the conflict needs to be settled and cited Sergey Lavrov who had said recently that the Karabakh conflict has become overrippen.