The Kremlin on Tuesday said only the agreements brokered by Moscow can serve as the basis for any settlement and normalization between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as the foreign ministers of the two countries continued negotiations for a second day in talks mediated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington.
“The solution of the existing problems between the two countries and the possible development of some joint actions and steps aimed at reducing tension in the region are primarily possible on the basis of trilateral documents that were signed together with Russia,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“So far, there is no other legal framework that would contributed to settlement. Therefore, so far these is absolutely no alternative to these tripartite documents,” Peskov said.
He said the Blinken-brokered talks between foreign ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhum Bayramov were “welcome,” but cast doubt on the United States intentions in engaging the Yerevan and Baku in peace negotiations.
“Of course, any effort that can help a settlement on this basis is welcome. But we also know that there are various attempts that blur the basis for a settlement, which in the future may fail to produce results. Let’s hope that in this case we are talking about the first case,” Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, added.
High-ranking State Department officials who went on record to report that the Mirzoyan-Bayramov talks would continue for “a few days,” expressed disappointment with what they called Moscow’s “negative reaction” to the negotiations in Washington.
They told Voice of America that the most important thing is for the parties to be able to communicate with each other, wherever it happens—in Washington, Brussels or Moscow—and emphasized that Washington’s goal is to provide a platform to achieve a lasting, balanced, and dignified peace.
