Russia to assist in soonest settlement of Karabakh conflict - Karasin
BAKU. Dec 2 (Interfax) - Moscow will support efficient measures towards the peaceful resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin as saying.
"Russia will continue to support efficient measures towards the soonest peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict," Karasin said at a meeting with Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov in Baku, in the course of political consultations between the two foreign ministries.
The 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Baku will be observed in 2017, Karasin said, adding that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has invited his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov to visit Russia.
The Russian deputy foreign minister thanked Azerbaijan for backing up at the UN General Assembly Russia's draft of a resolution condemning the glorification of Nazism and for co-authoring this document.
In turn, Khalafov said that Baku and Moscow had been developing cooperation in all areas, including politics, the economy, energy, military-technical issues, humanitarian affairs, education, tourism, agriculture and migration, and said that Russian companies were successfully doing business in Azerbaijan.
"Azerbaijani-Russian collaboration is strategic," the deputy minister said.
"The sides discussed ways of settling the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and Moscow's efforts in the capacity of an intermediary of the peace negotiations, as well as negotiations tasked with defining the legal status of the Caspian sea, cooperation and mutual support at international organizations, etc.," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.
