Kremlin clarifies nature of talks between Russia, West on Karabakh issue

YEREVAN, October 4. /ARKA/. Russia had certain contact with the West on the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh but the Politico media outlet's characterization of these talks was inaccurate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, Tass reported.

Politico wrote earlier, citing a senior diplomat and officials from the US and the EU, that representatives of the European Union, the United States and Russia had allegedly held "undisclosed emergency talks" on the situation in Karabakh in Istanbul on September 17, two days before Azerbaijan's massive offensive on the region.

"It wasn’t like they described it. There are a lot of inaccuracies and mistakes in the report. Certain contact on the Karabakh issue did take place, but it wasn't about the talks that were described in the article," Peskov pointed out, when asked if the Kremlin could confirm that such negotiations had indeed been held.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in turn, said that Brussels and Washington had contacted Moscow for a meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue before the crisis erupted. The diplomat explained at a press briefing on Wednesday that Russia, the US and the EU had held a routine exchange of views on Karabakh.

On September 19, Azerbaijan launched what it called an "anti-terrorist" operation against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Artsakh.

The assault lasted 24 hours and ended with Azerbaijani forces gaining full control of the region for the first time since the 1990s war.

This led to a vast refugee crisis, with tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians fleeing along the narrow mountain road connecting the region to the Republic of Armenia. According to the latest data, 100,600 people have arrived in Armenia from Karabakh.-0-