Russia does not recognize Nagornyy Karabakh as independent, says ministry
ITAR-TASS news agency
22 Jun 05
Moscow, 22 June: Russia “does not recognize Nagornyy Karabakh as an
independent state”, ITAR-TASS was told at the Russian Foreign Ministry
today on the subject of the recent “parliamentary elections” in
Nagornyy Karabakh.
Moscow believes that “a peaceful settlement of the conflict should not
depend on some elections or other being held in Karabakh”. The Foreign
Ministry stressed that “Russian citizens who were observers at the
elections were in Nagornyy Karabakh on their own initiative and
exclusively in a private capacity”.
Moscow “consistently adheres to the principle of the territorial
integrity of Azerbaijan, just as it does to other basic norms and
principles of international law”, the Foreign Ministry said. The view
was expressed that “the future status of Nagornyy Karabakh should be
determined without the use of force or the threat of force and only
through political negotiation between all the sides and within the
OSCE Minsk group”.
The Foreign Ministry said Russia was for “close cooperation with
partners co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group (the USA, Russia and France)
and for active assistance being given to the peoples of Azerbaijan and
Armenia in achieving the earliest possible settlement of the
conflict”.