Press TV, Iran
May 1 2010

Russia lauds Iran mediation in Karabakh
Sat, 01 May 2010 14:38:35 GMT
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Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko
Russia says it has no opposition to Iran’s initiative to mediate
between Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said on Friday
that Moscow does not oppose Iran’s proposal to hold trilateral talks
involving Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran on the Karabakh dispute, RIA
Novosti reported.

"We have nothing against the meeting. If such a meeting is held,
obviously, it is necessary to wait for the results and then speak of
the possibility of Iran’s mediation in the Karabakh conflict
settlement," Nesterenko added.

He went on to say that Iran’s mediation proposal only referred to a
trilateral meeting at this stage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki suggested a trilateral
meeting involving the foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Iran to resolve the dispute "through negotiations and on the basis of
justice."

Both Azerbaijan and Armenia have laid claim to the Nagorno-Karabakh
territory, which is largely populated by Armenians but located in
Azerbaijan.

Armenia took control of Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 1990s following
a short but bloody war with Azerbaijan in which around 30,000 people
lost their lives.

While a ceasefire was brokered in 1994, the dispute continues to
remain unresolved despite years of international mediations.

SF/HGH