At the meeting with the participants of the education marathon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov detailed the content of his letter to then-Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian—and prior to the signing of the Armenian-Turkish protocols in 2009.
"In 2008, our Armenian friends told us that the Turks are proposing to agree on documents for the restoration of diplomatic relations, normalization of relations, cooperation, implementation of joint projects. We said, 'That's very good. Are there any preconditions?' 'No, there are no preconditions.'
Then the case reached the signing; it was planned in Zurich—of course, with the participation of the [foreign] ministers of Armenia, Turkey. (…). but before signing, our Turkish colleagues said, "Yes, we will sign all that, but we must make a reservation on the Nagorno-Karabakh [(Artsakh)] issue."
The text of the reservation contradicted Armenia's position. And I told my colleague that I had cautioned him that I did not really believe that this would happen without preconditions. But we were where we were. Everyone has already come—and a deadlock.
As a result, the Turkish colleague agreed to withdraw that formal condition. But the Armenian colleagues were saying they shall make a statement in which Armenia would present its position on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. At that time, the Turkish minister said, ‘If you make a statement, then I will make a statement, too.’
We were already realizing that we had to get out of this situation somehow. And I wrote a letter to him [i.e., then-Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian] not to insist on the topic of a comment. And so it happened. As a result, the documents were signed, but later ‘disappeared’ for the same reason, as the parties had different viewpoints on the Karabakh settlement process," the Russian FM said.
Lavrov added: "Now that the war in Nagorno-Karabakh is over, there are grounds for unblocking the political process, transport and economic ties. It would be logical if Armenia and Turkey resume efforts to normalize relations." The Russian FM stressed that they are ready to assist these efforts in the most active way.