Russia Dismisses Aliyev’s Call To Stop Arming Armenia

“It is Russia’s sovereign right, and the Russian side always takes into account the need to maintain a balance of military power in the region,” she said.

In an apparent reference to Aliyev’s recent statements Zakharova also said that bellicose rhetoric does not help settle the situation, stressing that Moscow’s unconditional priority remains the implementation of the trilateral agreements of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia from November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that high-level contacts with Yerevan and Baku continue on a regular bases. As for the mostly non-public nature of these negotiations, she said: “Simply, [publicity] may really get in the way of achieving sustainable results. And in this regard, I would like to note the absolute counter-productiveness of confrontational rhetoric, let alone bellicose rhetoric, which political leaders in the South Caucasus sometimes resort to. It strikes directly at one point and, unfortunately, damages the main thing – the achievement of a sustainable result.”

Zakharova noted with satisfaction that the tripartite working group on unblocking regional transport links resumed its work in Moscow on August 17, getting down to practical discussions.

She once again called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to start work on the delimitation and demarcation of their border as soon as possible.

“The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has worsened due to an acute lack of trust between the two sides, and a long-term solution is to launch negotiations on the delimitation of the border with its subsequent demarcation,” she said, reiterating Russia’s readiness to provide necessary consultative assistance to this process.