Russia supports adopting document outlining steps for Nagorno-Karabakh settlement - Lavrov

BAKU, April 7. /TASS/. It is necessary to adopt a document outlining concrete steps to settle the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told TASS First Deputy Director General Mikhail Gusman on Thursday. "The main task now is to prevent another outbreak of violence," Lavrov said. "We discussed it here once again with the Azerbaijani president, and I hope it will be discussed with the Armenian side as well that it is very important to return to the ideas that were fixed in joint statements of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia three-four years ago, when meetings with participation of the presidents of our countries took place," he added. "Apart from efforts on political settlement, search for agreements on how to unblock this situation in general, we discussed issues connected with confidence-building measures on the contact line," the foreign minister noted. "It means that people were killed. Incidents happened long ago that ended with victims on both sides, some people were taken hostage. So, bodies should be exchanged," he explained. "Then we had the idea to withdraw snipers from the contact line. It is very risky when people look through the barrel sight and see each other every hour, every minute - some people just snap," Lavrov went on. "Such steps were planned long ago. By the way, according to the agreement between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) together with co-chairs of the Minsk Group (Russia, France, US) have been preparing concrete steps," Lavrov said. "This document has not been fully coordinated yet but it exists, and it has been developed for several years already. I think that the current situation will motivate us all and make us approve these measures as soon as possible and implement them," he added. Lavrov said that he discussed this issue at the meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. "He supported this approach, of course, understanding that we will introduce these measures not to immortalize the status quo - no one wants this - but to create more favorable atmosphere for a political process, in the framework of which Russia undertakes its own initiatives as well, apart from efforts of three co-chairs (of the Minsk Group)," he added. "President Putin, and President Medvedev before him, actively promoted different ideas which would allow to unblock the situation through liberating regions around Karabakh, simultaneously resolving the issue about the status of Karabakh," Lavrov said. "I will not go into details but several options remain on the negotiations table, and we touched upon this at yesterday’s meeting with the Azerbaijani president. We will promote our efforts," Lavrov concluded. Read more