Zakharova on US Mediation in the Armenian-Azerbaijani Settlement Process

The official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, commented in a press briefing on a journalist's request regarding the US State Department's statement that Moscow has obstructed efforts aimed at the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.

"If anyone has obstructed the efforts for the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement, it is precisely the Western countries, led by the United States. The format of the OSCE Minsk Group has been sent to the dustbin of history after the American and French co-chairs stopped cooperating with their Russian counterpart on a fictitious pretext last February. This is a fact. Moreover, understandable explanations for such actions have not been received from them so far.

In light of this fact, Russia has focused on providing support to Armenia and Azerbaijan through a trilateral format, based on the highest-level trilateral agreements reached. As for US mediation, we do not see that it contains any real steps or has any added value," Zakharova stated.

The Russian Foreign Ministry representative also announced that Russia is ready to organize a meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow.