Russia has again criticized any third-party intervention in the ongoing process to normalize relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, adding that it’s ready to organize a tripartite meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow to achieve a peace treaty.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry, in a statement today, says that while it respect’s Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan’s recognition of Nagorno Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan, this decision has “radically changed the fundamental conditions under which the Statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020 was signed, as well as the position of the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in the region.”

This latest call by Moscow to Yerevan and Baku to stick with Russian attempts to mediate relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and to resolve the Karabakh conflict coincides with today’s meeting in Brussels between Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev hosted by EU Council President Charles Michel.

Pashinyan, at a May 22 Yerevan press conference, stated “"Azerbaijan's 86,600 square kilometers also includes Nagorno Karabakh” and called for international mechanisms to ensure the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians.

“The preparation of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan should be started immediately, based on the agreements reached earlier. We proceed from the fact that reliable and clear guarantees of the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians should become an integral part of this agreement, as well as the steady implementation of the entire complex of tripartite agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, including the unblocking of transport communications and the start of the process of demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border,” the ministry’s statement reads.

The ministry also called on Azerbaijan to take immediate steps to open the Lachin Corridor, to restore unimpeded bilateral traffic of citizens, vehicles and cargo, as well as to restore the energy supply to Karabakh.