MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/: The trilateral agreements inked by Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia for a possible settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict constitute a genuine basis for finding a way out of the situation, but the provisions of these agreements must be observed, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"We are ready to welcome any steps by the parties involved that could ease tensions and would contribute to further progress regarding the implementation of the trilateral agreements," Peskov said.
According to him, the trilateral agreements "currently form the only real basis for the [conflict’s] settlement."
"This is why we believe that carrying on with the implementation of the [trilateral agreements’] provisions is necessary for everyone and there is no alternative to it," Peskov added.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev proposed earlier that Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh could obtain Azerbaijani citizenship. Moreover, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated earlier that he recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, 2020. On November 9, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aliyev and Pashinyan signed a joint statement on the full cessation of hostilities.
The sides stopped at their positions at that moment, a number of districts came under Baku’s control, and Russian peacekeepers were deployed at the contact line and along the so-called Lachin Corridor.
After trilateral talks with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan on October 31, 2022 in Sochi, Putin said that a "joint agreement" was needed to extend the mandate of Russian peacekeepers. According to him, the decision to extend the mandate depended on a host of issues, particularly the potential conclusion of a peace treaty, and the delimitation and demarcation of the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
