Official Moscow, responding to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s call not to arm Armenia, stated today, August 19, that selling weapons to this or that country is Russia’s sovereign right, and moreover, Russia always takes into account the balance of forces in the region.
Russian Foreign Ministry official spokesperson Maria Zakharova also said that bellicose statements do not contribute to the settlement of the situation, and that Moscow’s unconditional priority is the implementation of the trilateral agreements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020 and January 11 of this year. Aggressive rhetoric does not bring this goal closer, Zakharova said, without specifying whose statements she was referring to, although the question to which Zakharova was responding quoted Aliyev’s statement made a few days earlier.
The representative of Russia’s foreign policy department stressed that communications with Baku and Yerevan are carried out regularly, negotiations are always held, mostly not publicly, since the issues under discussion are sensitive: “Simply, that could really hinder reaching a stable result. And in that connection, I would like to note the absolute ineffectiveness of confrontational or, moreover, bellicose rhetoric by politicians of the Transcaucasian countries. It strikes immediately, unfortunately, at one point and damages mainly the achievement of a stable result.”
Zakharova also noted with satisfaction that the trilateral working group resumed its work on August 17 and has already moved on to discussions.
She once again called on the parties to begin delimitation and demarcation work as soon as possible. According to Zakharova, the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is tense due to the lack of trust between the two sides, and the start of delimitation could help the parties on this issue. And Russia, as has been stated many times, is ready to provide advisory support on this matter.
The official representative of Russia’s foreign policy department also stressed, as always, that thanks to the effective work of the Russian peacekeepers, the situation inside the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact nevertheless remains relatively calm.
