Russia doing more than other countries to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict — lawmaker

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. Russia is doing more than any other country for the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict consistently advocating a political solution to the crisis that would rule out the resumption of hostilities, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko told the News.am Armenian news portal ahead of her visit to Yerevan.

The senator noted that "the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was one of the longest-standing in the post-Soviet space." It broke out when the Soviet Union was still in existence and has lasted for nearly 30 years. "In my opinion, it should be now clear to everyone that it brings nothing but trouble to either side," she said, adding that the search for ways to resolve it, nevertheless, was progressing slowly.

"I can say responsibly that Russia is doing more than any other country to untie this very complex, tight knot," Matviyenko said. She recalled that Russia was actively working at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and during the bilateral contacts with the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"Our stance on this issue has been consistent. Russia is committed to the political solution, which rules out the resumption of hostilities, bloodshed, the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe," Matviyenko noted. In her opinion, "developments in Ukraine, in Syria and some other countries vividly show what adversities the use of force is fraught with." She spoke in favor of more active involvement of parliamentarians, business people and cultural personalities of Armenia and Azerbaijan to search for ways out of the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis. "Such contacts contribute to the restoration of confidence between peoples, and this is essential for the implementation of the political decisions when they are found," she said.