The Russian Federation has always had special ties not only with Armenia, but also with Azerbaijan. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club.
“More than 2 million Armenians and about 2 million Azerbaijanis live in Russia. These are not only those people who came for temporary work, these are people who live here almost permanently, ”the Russian leader said.
Armenians and Azerbaijanis working in Russia have stable and close ties with Russia at the humanitarian level, Putin said. “Therefore, for us, both Armenia and Azerbaijan are equal partners,” he added.
Speaking about the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Putin said that since the beginning of the escalation of the conflict in the region, about 5,000 people have died on both sides.
According to the president, all the participants in the talks sincerely strive for a settlement, but Moscow is more interested in this than others.
Earlier that day, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia is making active efforts to end hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
On the same day, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that he did not rule out a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Nagorno-Karabakh in Moscow.
The aggravation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh began on September 27. Baku and Yerevan accused each other of shelling and the death of civilians. On October 9, during negotiations in Moscow, the parties agreed to cease fire from October 10, but this did not happen.