Russian Security Council: Baku-Yerevan normalisation possible without Western interference

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev has said that settlement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is possible only when extra-regional forces stop interfering in the conflict.

However, the West's steps only aggravate the situation, he said at a meeting in Moscow with CIS colleagues, TASS reports.

"We are also interested in stabilising the situation in the South Caucasus region, creating conditions for its development and strengthening mutual trust and cooperation," he assured.

For this purpose, Russia is consistently taking steps for the comprehensive normalisation of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in the interests of concluding a peace treaty between these countries, delimitation of borders, opening of transport communications, Patrushev continued.

"The practice shows that this is possible only under the condition of non-interference of extra-regional forces. The actions of Western countries provoke the degradation of the situation in the region and contribute to the persistence of contradictions in it," he emphasised.