Moscow said Tuesday (May 2) there was "
no alternative
" to its mediation between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, as Washington hosts negotiations between the two countries .
“
At this stage, there are no other legal bases that would contribute to the settlement (of the conflict).
There is no alternative to these tripartite documents
,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, referring to the ceasefire signed in 2020 between Baku and Yerevan under the aegis of Moscow.
“
Any aid that can help resolve (the conflict) can be welcome
,” he continued, saying, however, that he was wary of “
attempts that blur the bases for a
peaceful settlement”.
Cease fire
At the end of a short war which saw Azerbaijan retake territories in this separatist region with an Armenian majority in the fall of 2020, Baku and Yerevan signed a ceasefire promoted by Russia.
Since then, Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia has been complaining for several months about their inefficiency.
Russia's isolation on the international scene, due to the conflict in Ukraine, also limits Moscow's room for manoeuvre.
Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, already high, redoubled when Baku announced on April 23 that it had installed a first road checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, the only axis linking Armenia to Upper Karabakh.
Baku justified its decision on security grounds, while Yerevan denounced a violation of the ceasefire negotiated in 2020.
Peace negotiations
It is in this context that Washington, which co-chairs with Moscow and Paris the so-called " Minsk
" group
of the OSCE on this conflict, is trying to relaunch peace negotiations, after unsuccessful attempts by Russia and the European Union European in recent months.
The discussions, around the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are supposed to last until Thursday in the presence of the heads of diplomacy of the two countries, the Armenian Ararat Mirzoyan and the Azerbaijani Djeyhoun Baïramov.
Antony Blinken had already participated in two trilateral meetings last November, then last February, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (Germany), without these discussions having made it possible at this stage to lead to an agreement.
