MOSCOW, May 25. /TASS/. All CIS countries are interested in ending the conflicts on the territory of the Commonwealth, including that between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said after a discussion between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that broke out at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on Thursday.
"We will have an opportunity now, as we have agreed, to talk about everything calmly, in a businesslike manner in a trilateral format and, I hope, to reach some agreements that will put the situation not only between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also in the region as a whole, on the path of constructive development," Putin said. "I want to assure you that everyone here is interested in this, everyone absolutely."
The Russian leader said that his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko "talked about this quite convincingly" during a meeting behind closed doors. Putin thanked Aliyev for coming to Moscow and Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan for not blocking Pashinyan's arrival, which allowed for holding the trilateral meeting.
Discussion highlights
At an enlarged meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council Aliyev and Pashinyan entered into a dispute with each other. The Armenian premier argued that the Lachin corridor, which according to trilateral agreements should be controlled by Russian peacekeepers, was blocked by the Azerbaijani military. Aliyev strongly rejected Pashinyan's charges, saying that the Azerbaijani checkpoint was 20 meters away from the Russian peacekeepers and by no means hindered traffic. The Armenian prime minister insisted that only the term "Lachin corridor" was legitimate and it was wrong to call it the "Lachin road."
"Colleagues have expressed their position. They formulated it. It is important for them. It seems to me that the terminology that you and I, the three of us at any rate, are very well aware of, is called in a different way - 'legal technicalities' - 'a corridor', 'a road' and so on and so forth. This is important," Putin said in a conciliatory tone to join the discussion. "But much more important is what you have just said - both the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia. On the fundamental issue, the issue of territorial integrity, there is an agreement of fundamental nature," the Russian leader said. "This, indeed, furnishes the basis for agreeing on other issues of secondary nature. Although these are also essential," he added.
The Russian leader noted that the issue on the agenda was the future of former Soviet republics, which once lived in a single family of nations.
"Unfortunately, we have a lot of contradictions. It even comes to armed conflicts. In Russia the same thing is happening in a known area. All this is very sensitive, all this involves human tragedies. All of us are interested in solving these problems," Putin concluded.