Russia welcomes the readiness of Armenia and Azerbaijan to begin preparing a peace treaty and is ready to facilitate the negotiation process between the two countries, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"We welcome the readiness of Baku and Yerevan to start preparing a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia and reaffirm our commitment to fully assist the negotiation process," RIA Novosti quoted Zakharova as saying at a briefing on Thursday.

She added that it is still too early to talk about possible timeframes for signing the peace treaty.