Moscow will respond to Baku`s demand to refrain from mentioning the  Karabakh issue

ArmInfo. The Russian side will respond to  Azerbaijani counterparts through diplomatic channels to the country's Foreign Ministry statement demanding to refrain from mentioning Karabakh in political discussions. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova made this statement at a briefing, in response to a  question about Baku's demand not to mention the Karabakh issue, even though Baku itself does not recognize the new Russian territories.

As reported by TASS,  the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry had issued a  statement calling on Russia to refrain from mentioning  the Karabakh  issue in political discussions, citing the previous day's meeting  between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian President Nikol  Pashinyan. According to Baku, during the meeting, the heads of state  discussed issues "relating exclusively to Azerbaijan's internal  affairs." Zakharova also recalled that the Russian side, including  the Russian President himself, had played a key role in resolving the  Karabakh conflict.

 "We have consistently strived to create the necessary conditions for  resolving this most sensitive and complex issue in relations between  Baku and Yerevan. Thanks to our efforts the bloodshed was stopped in  the fall of 2020. Moscow's participation ultimately made it possible  to launch the current stage of normalizing relations between Baku and  Yerevan"in all key areas based on trilateral agreements at the  highest level."

"Yes, much remains to be done to make the Armenian-Azerbaijani  normalization irreversible, including signing a peace treaty,  restoring transport and economic ties in the region, delimiting and  demarcating the state border, and strengthening mutual trust between  the two peoples," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson  emphasized. According to her, Moscow will continue to provide Baku  and Yerevan with the assistance they needed on all these tracks.  "And, of course, this is the very case when one really wants to hope  that the word 'irreversible' will only have a positive connotation,"  Zakharova said.