Zakharova refutes Armenia’s claims that Putin recognized Artsakh as Azerbaijan back in 2020

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova refuted the Armenian authorities’ statements that Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized Artsakh as Azerbaijan back in 2020.

According to her, Russia considered the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh status unresolved, while Armenia recognized it as part of Azerbaijan in Prague.

“The words and actions of the Russian leadership are being completely shamelessly distorted. Once again, I will provide you with the facts of how events unfolded. As a result of the personal mediation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, on November 9, 2020, a trilateral high-level statement was adopted on a ceasefire and all military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. At the same time, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia reached a so-called gentleman’s agreement to postpone the determination of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh to the next generation. We have repeatedly commented on this in detail. I will also add a few quotes from the President of Russia.

He said this during a press conference on November 17, 2020. No one, not even Armenia, has recognized Karabakh’s independence. In terms of international law, as the President of the Russia said in 2020, Azerbaijan was returning territories that it and the entire world community considered Azerbaijan’s territory. The final status of Karabakh has not been settled, Vladimir Putin said in 2020. We maintain the status quo, the current situation. It is completely unclear how, after these quotes being recorded on the website of the President of Russia and in the archives of news agencies of all countries, it is possible to spread the false stories that you mentioned,” Zakharova said.

According to her, this misinformation is designed to mislead the Armenian and international communities. “The facts are that following the results of the meeting under the auspices of the EU in October 2022 in Prague, it was the Armenian leadership that recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory. This is also confirmed by respective quotes from official statements of Armenia,” Zakharova concluded.