The ministry said that Pashinyan's article says that Russian proposals for a Nagorno-Karabakh settlement did not affect the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and were limited only to the topic of returning seven regions to Azerbaijan.
The Foreign Ministry noted that the plan for a phased settlement, the latest version of which was handed over to the parties by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in June 2019, is based on the basic principles of the settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, including “the return to Azerbaijan at the first stage of five regions, and at the second stage - two, moreover, in conjunction with the determination of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. "
Also among the elements of the first stage are the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh's rights that would ensure the organization of the full-fledged life of its population and the participation of Karabakh representatives in OSCE meetings, as well as lifting the blockade, opening the border, making the parties commitments on the non-use of force and others.
“Therefore, the assertion that Russia offered to return seven regions“ for nothing, ”to forget about the status and calm down, is not true,” the Russian diplomat said.
On January 11, Moscow hosted trilateral talks between the Presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev, and Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.
The negotiations lasted almost four hours.
Following the meeting, a joint statement was signed on the development of Nagorno-Karabakh.