Due to the fact that the Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan was served a protest note and that the Press Service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a comment regarding a “visit” to Moscow by representatives of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Masis Mailyan and Lernik Ovannisyan, we would like to point out the following.  

The said persons’ trip, if made at all, was purely of a private nature. As a private trip, it is neither against Russian law nor any international agreements, or inconsistent with Russia’s mediation mission in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. No meetings with Russian Federation officials took place.

As for the references to the alleged contacts between Masis Mailyan and Lernik Ovannisyan and Russian experts at “the permanent mission of Artsakh in Russia,” we would like to stress once again that no such “mission” is registered with the Russian government bodies as a diplomatic mission of a sovereign state because our country does not recognise the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

We consider the complaints against Russia in the protest note and the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s comment unsubstantiated and their general tone inconsistent with the level and the quality of Russia-Azerbaijan relations.

For our part, we will continue to facilitate the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, both as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and as a country, in view of our relations with Azerbaijan and Armenia.