The Azeri government’s criticism of Russia and Armenia on Saturday came as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels for talks aimed at resolving their decades-long conflict for the control of Karabakh, Al-Jazeera reported.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the neighbours have fought two wars over the small mountainous enclave that is part of Azerbaijan but populated by about 120,000 ethnic Armenians.
After heavy fighting and a Russian-brokered ceasefire, Azerbaijan in 2020 took over areas that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians in and around the mountain enclave.
Baku and Yerevan have since been discussing a peace deal in which Russia is also pushing to retain a leading role and in which the two countries would agree on borders, settle differences over the enclave and unfreeze relations.
Tensions, however, have flared again with Azerbaijan blockading and closing the sole land link between Karabakh and Armenia earlier this week.
Russia said on Saturday that it was ready to organize a three-way meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan at the level of foreign ministers and said this could be followed up with a Moscow summit to sign a peace treaty.
It said an integral part of this pact should be “reliable and clear guarantees of the rights and security of the Armenians of Karabakh” and the implementation of earlier agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Baku – which insists that any security guarantees for Karabakh’s Armenian population should be provided at the national level and not via an international mechanism – responded angrily.
“The Russian side did not ensure full implementation of the agreement within the framework of its obligations,” it said, adding that Moscow “did nothing to prevent” Yerevan’s military supplies from reaching separatist forces in Karabakh.
It said Russia’s statement “causes disappointment and misunderstanding” and contradicts Moscow’s declarations of supporting Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
MNA/PR
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