Russia is not accusing external forces, including Ankara, of tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday, TASS reports.
“We are not accusing any external forces and any external players of provoking the current outbreak of tensions (in Nagorno-Karabakh),” Lavrov said. “Nor do we accuse Ankara.”
“Of course, we have heard the (relevant) statements of the Turkish leadership, which are one-sided,” he went on to say. “However, in general, now it is important for our Turkish neighbors to set a course for stopping interference in the affairs of any countries, be it Iraq or Syria.” “There is plenty of evidence that Turkey, in spite of all appeals, pushes ahead with such interference and continues to support terrorism,” the Russian minister said.
“I don’t venture to judge what role Ankara played or did not play or continues to play with regard to Nagorno-Karabakh,” Lavrov said. “However, it would be appropriate for everyone, including Turkey and the Turkish people, to make sure that Ankara focuses on stopping the support of terrorism. I think that’s the idea I can safely express, and we will act in favor of this.”
According to the minister, the Russian side notes attempts to frustrate efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on Nagorno-Karabakh.
“We can say that there are attempts from those who are dissatisfied with the basic approaches to the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement,” he said.
Lavrov has also stressed that there can be no military solution to the conflict and called on Baku and Yerevan to heed the calls for peace.
“Out stance was explained by the president, the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Ministry,” he said. “Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and yours truly have contacted our counterparts. We expressed the most serious concern and confirmed the president’s message to the effect it is essential to terminate violations of the ceasefire regimen as soon as possible, without delay, and to avoid creating hindrances to the resumption of efforts to make transition to a peace settlement. We hope that these messages have been heard.”
“At least the two sides have declared that the necessary orders had been issued. There’ve been some reports today that excesses have not subsided yet,” Lavrov said. “We keep in touch with Baku and Yerevan to ensure the signals from Moscow, Washington and Paris should be heard at last.”
