Responsibility Lies with the Leadership of Armenians Living in Artsakh, Lavrov Says

Russian peacekeeping forces in Artsakh are taking round-the-clock measures to stabilize the situation along the Lachin corridor while maintaining contact with all involved parties. This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during negotiations with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov on December 23.

However, the Russian minister emphasized that if Baku and Yerevan wish to refrain from the services of the peacekeeping mission, they can sit at the negotiating table and discuss other options.

According to Lavrov, Moscow is doing everything possible to resolve the disputes concerning the exploitation of the Gyzylbulag and Demirli mines (real names: Kashen and Drmbon), which are located in the territory of Artsakh controlled by peacekeepers.

The Russian Foreign Minister assured that Russia, like no one else, is interested in sustainable and fair peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Lavrov told Bayramov that the agreement between the parties regarding the visit of the Azerbaijani monitoring commission was undermined not by the Russian peacekeepers, but that the responsibility lies with the leadership of Armenians living in Artsakh.