TEHRAN, October 23. /TASS/. Moscow is ready to assist with the process of initiating a state border delimitation between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
"Any expert is well aware that everything required to ink the delimitation of the border [between Armenia and Azerbaijan] is in the possession of Russia, including first of all, the maps that had been inherited from the times of the Soviet Union," Lavrov said following the "3+3" format ministerial meeting on South Caucasus.
"Our partners realize it. We are not making a big problem out of it. Let them try their luck in Brussels if they are aiming for it, but we are always ready to help starting a real delimitation," Russia’s top diplomat added.
The Russian foreign minister noted that the European Union and the United States recently attempted to find ways in order to participate in this delimitation process and continue doing so.
"We are not against any contact that both the Armenians and Azerbaijanis find it useful for themselves," he said.
Lavrov reiterated that a provisional agreement on the delimitation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border was previously inked by Moscow, Baku and Yerevan.
"Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed to set up a commission on the delimitation, and upon their mutual consent, the Russian side was granted the right to participate as a consultant. Unfortunately, for quite a long period this commission did not convene for a meeting," Lavrov stated.
On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression."
The Russian Foreign Ministry called upon the parties to the conflict to stop the bloodshed, end hostilities, prevent civilian casualties, and go back to trying to settle the Karabakh issue diplomatically.
On September 20, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that an agreement was reached with the participation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to suspend anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh.
On September 28, Samvel Shahramanyan, president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) signed a decree dissolving the unrecognized state effective January 1, 2024. The local ethnic Armenian population has been advised to consider the reintegration proposals being put forward by Baku and decide for themselves whether to remain or to relocate.