Putin's spokesman: it is up to Armenia and Azerbaijan to find solution to Karabakh problem
A lasting solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to be forged out by the sides to the conflict, not international peace brokers, Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian president, was quoted as saying by Tass.
"As a responsible participant in these formats, Russia works consistently to help the sides find a mutually acceptable peace formula," he said noting that "this is not a one-time effort, but a consistent policy.’ "Any final decision, final initiative can only come from the parties to the conflict", Peskov said.
"Neither international mediators, nor Russia can resolve the conflict for both Armenia and Azerbaijan", Putin's spokesman said.
The Karabakh conflict was discussed yesterday by Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan in Moscow. Sargsyan was said to have thanked Putin for taking part in the efforts to resolve the conflict..
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. -0-