RUSSIA: Russian President Vladimir Russia presses Armenian, Azeri leaders for talks on Nagorno-Karabakh

Record ID: 218539

  • Title: RUSSIA: Russian President Vladimir Russia presses Armenian, Azeri leaders for talks on Nagorno-Karabakh
  • Date: 11th August 2014
  • Summary: SOCHI, RUSSIA (AUGUST 10, 2014) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (RUSSSIAN POOL) (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN, SAYING: "We have to show patience, wisdom, respect to each other in order to find the solution. No doubt, all difficult situations can be resolved if there is a good will and I think such a good will exists in both Azeri (SPEAKING OVER SHOT OF ARMENIAN
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADMMFAIK3UPD1BAZ9POFOOQRY
  • Story Text: Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia on Sunday (August 10) to talk instead of fight, after more than a dozen people were killed in clashes over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
    The Kremlin chief hosted a meeting between the heads of the two ex-Soviet states this weekend, giving him a chance to play a peacekeeping role in the former Soviet Union at a time when the West is accusing Moscow of backing pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
    "We have to show patience, wisdom, respect to each other in order to find the solution. No doubt, all difficult situations can be resolved if there is a good will and I think such a good will exists in both Azeri and Armenian peoples," Putin told Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Serzh Sargsyan in the second day of talks in his Black Sea residence in Sochi.
    Sargsyan and Aliyev agreed on the need for a political solution to the 23-year-old conflict and stressed the special role Russia can play in this process.
    "Unfortunately over twenty years have passed but these resolutions are still just on paper. The Minsk group represented by co-chairmen is working, trying to bring the parties closer but this work is not going well, that's is why I think Russia being our close friend, partner and neighbour holds a special role in the settlement process, of course," said Aliyev.
    Armenian president said he does not see military solution to Karabakh conflict.
    "Azeri side always refers to the four UN resolutions and I have a rhetoric question to ask Mr.Aliyev "Which paragraph of these resolutions Azerbaijan has fulfilled?". The only party which fulfilled demands of these resolution is Armenia which used its influence to stop fighting. Already then we came to conclusion that this conflict cannot be resolved militarily. And if we again start trading accusations I think this conflict will not be resolved for a long time," said Sargsyan.
    At least 16 combatants were killed and several wounded in last week's clashes around the region, which lies within Azerbaijan but is populated mostly by ethnic Armenians. The clashes highlighted the risk of broader conflict in the South Caucasus area, where oil and natural gas flow from the Caspian region to Europe.
    Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh first erupted in 1991, when the Soviet Union broke up. A ceasefire was called in 1994 after more than 30,000 people were killed in the fighting. The two sides have regularly traded accusations of further violence around the region and along the Azeri-Armenian border.
    Energy-producing Azerbaijan, host to oil majors including BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil, frequently threatens to take Nagorno-Karabakh back by force and is spending heavily on its armed forces.
    Meanwhile, Russia is at odds with the West over Ukraine. The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia, including visa bans, asset freezes and limiting access to capital for Russian state banks, over its role in the fighting and Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in March.
    Moscow has retaliated with counter sanctions, imposing sweeping trade restrictions of Western food imports.
  • Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register