Moscow announced late on Thursday that Igor Khovaev, the Russian co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, will now work as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s special envoy on “fostering the normalization of relations” between the two South Caucasus states.
“The issue of preparing for the peace treaty will be at the center of his attention,” said Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman. “We count on the support of Khovaev’s efforts by our allies and partners in Baku and Yerevan.”
Lavrov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan again spoke by phone on Friday. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, they discussed, among other things, “prospects for agreeing a peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku with Russian assistance.”
Philippines -- Russian ambassador to the Philippines Igor Khovaev gestures during a press conference aboard a Russian warship at South Pier in Manila, January 4, 2017.
The U.S., France and Russia have for decades co-headed the OSCE Minsk Group tasked with brokering a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Lavrov said last week that Washington and Paris have stopped cooperating with Moscow on the conflict because of the war in Ukraine. U.S. and French officials have not denied that.
The U.S. State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said on Thursday that Washington “stands ready to engage bilaterally and with likeminded partners, including through the role as an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair, to help the countries find a long-term comprehensive peace.”
“I can’t speak to the role that Russia might play in this,” he told reporters when asked whether the U.S. is indeed avoiding joint mediation efforts with Russia.
Price also welcomed the results of the April 6 talks between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan that were hosted by European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels. Nikol Pashinian and Ilham Aliyev agreed to start drafting the comprehensive peace accord and to set up a commission tasked with demarcating the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
U.S. -- U.S. State Department Spokesman Ned Price speaks during a press briefing at the State Department in Washington, February 8, 2021
On April 8, Lavrov accused the EU of trying to sideline Moscow and use the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for its “Russophobic line.” He said the EU wants to claim credit for Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements on border demarcation and transport links that were brokered by Russian President Vladimir Putin after the 2020 war in Karabakh.
Pashinian and Aliyev phoned Putin the following day to brief him on their Brussels talks. The Armenian prime minister is due to visit Moscow on April 19.
“Russia is determined to facilitate the conclusion of a peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku,” Zakharova said on Thursday. She stressed at the same time that Moscow is “open to constructive interaction with other interested players.”