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full screen Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Azeri leader Ilham Aliyev at a reception in Baku. Photo: Mikhail Tereshchenko/Kremlin Via Pool/AP/TT
Russian President Vladimir Putin offers Azerbaijan mediation assistance in the country’s conflict with Armenia.
Putin is visiting the capital, Baku, and the outburst comes in connection with his meeting with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
– It is common knowledge that Russia also has crises, mainly when it comes to Ukraine, Putin said at a joint press conference.
– But Russia’s historical involvement in the South Caucasus, even in recent years, makes it necessary for us to participate when the parties see a need.
Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Caucasus have been in military conflict over, among other things, the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which took an abrupt turn when Azeri forces captured the region in a military offensive last September.
Since then, the government in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, which has traditionally been close to Moscow, has opened up closer ties with countries to the west and with the EU.