"We often hear that Russia is trying to monopolize the work related to the settlement of the Nagorny Karabakh conflict and push other mediators aside. That is a misconception. The trilateral summits on the Karabakh issue with the participation of the Russian President – there have been more than twenty such summits – perfectly complement the efforts by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by Russia, the US and France to settle this conflict," Putin told AZERTAC news agency ahead of his Azerbaijan visit.
"It should be noted that US and French representatives attended the concluding part of the abovementioned trilateral summit in St. Petersburg," the president added.
"I hope that our joint efforts will help the sides to reach a consensual solution," he concluded.
Moreover, Russia is not attempting to impose "ready-made solutions" to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict upon Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"I would like to particularly emphasize that we are not trying to impose some ready made solutions upon Armenia and Azerbaijan. The sides should reach an agreement and find mutually acceptable solutions independently, without external pressure. This is our firm position," Putin told AZERTAC news agency ahead of his Azerbaijan visit.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been engaged in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh since 1988, when the autonomous region left the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic and proclaimed independence after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The secession triggered a war that lasted until a Russia-brokered ceasefire was signed in 1994.
