MOSCOW
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the current situation of the Karabakh issue, unacceptable for both parties, cannot remain unsolved.
Speaking at a press conference after his meeting with the Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Memmedyarov, Russian FM Lavrov touched upon further developing bilateral relations by using platforms such as "Russian-Azeri Interregional Forum" and "Baku International Humanitarian Forum."
The agenda of the meeting covered, as Lavrov said, enhancing the economic, social and cultural relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, and the Karabakh issue, the disputed region between southwestern Azerbaijan and eastern Armenia.
Lavrov said, handling the Karabakh issue with his Azeri counterpart, "The current situation of the Karabakh issue is unacceptable for both parties. If the issue remains unsolved, it would mean the continuation of the problem of Armenian economic embargo and the dispute on the return of the Azeri territories."
Reminding Moscow's key role in solving the Karabakh issue and the efforts towards sustaining talks in different formats since the 1994 armistice between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Lavrov described Russia's goal as the Co-Chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group as turning the statements of the parties into concrete steps.
Lavrov also noted that the recent suspension of the Gabala Radar Station (RLS) and Baku-Novorosiysk oil pipeline agreements did not mean the bilateral relations were turning negative.
