On 18 January, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov spoke about the unresolved issues in Nagorno-Karabakh, following the meeting of Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev in Moscow (Caucasus Watch reported).

Lavrov elaborated that there were no additional attachments to the 9 November trilateral statement in contrast to the rumors that were circling prior to the Aliyev-Pashinyan meeting. “The 9 November statement is being implemented quite effectively. Except for the issue of Armenian prisoners of war, which, I repeat, arose—in the current edition—in early December; a month after the signing of the agreement, the rest is carried out quite effectively. The issue of the mandate of the Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh is being resolved. It shall become a subject of trilateral agreements, which were discussed during the 11 January meeting in Moscow. There is no secret attachment, and I do not see what topics can be a secret,” he emphasised.

However, Lavrov added that the issue of POW exchange still remains problematic. “If we talk in detail, indeed, there were more problems on the Armenian side. Both sides should have provided a list of prisoners. The Azerbaijani side gave the list. This list was not large. Those captives were exchanged. The issue of captives and missing people have not been raised by Azerbaijan. Armenia did not provide this list immediately and completely. Until 9 November, there was an exchange of prisoners. Now we are talking about the issue that arose in early December. Senior Armenian conscripts were sent to Hadrut in late November. One week, 10 days later, in early December, 62 people were captured there. At that stage, the Azerbaijani side stated that the captives were sent to those territories after the cessation of hostilities, so the issue should be considered separately, not within the framework of the 9 November  tripartite statement. Russia is in favor of exchanging prisoners on an “all for all” basis. I talked to my Armenian colleague. It turned out that the list includes more than 62 prisoners. Let me say that this topic exists. It would be difficult to solve this without our peacekeepers,” Lavrov stated.

Another topic addressed by Lavrov was the region’s status. He said that right now was not the best time to discuss the status, given the state of emotions of the Armenian and Azerbaijani people following the war, but adding that the issue must be discussed in the future. “The main thing is that there should be concrete, calm legal discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of the good-neighbourliness that we all need to restore in the region,” he said. Lavrov was also confronted with the question of the eventuality of Nagorno-Karabakh's accession to Russia after the conflict. “I must say that the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognised by anyone, including Armenia. And we have no such idea. We believe that all issues in the region should be resolved by the countries located here, first of all between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We will continue to help find such a solution. This solution will ensure peace and security in the region, and most importantly, the security of the people who have always lived here,” he replied.

Lavrov also addressed the issue of Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan to the region, where he signed cooperation agreements with Karabakh’s de facto authorities (Caucasus Watch reported). “If we agree and all agree that there must be ties between the Armenians of Karabakh and Armenia, I do not see any reason why to impede the contacts on this level,” he said. “No one has ever denied the ties between Armenia and Karabakh, throughout the decades long negotiations the issue on cutting Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh has never been raised. This is the reason why the Lachin corridor as a concept has never been denied by anyone and a consent exists between the parties, including... our Azerbaijani neighbors,” he added. He also called Armenian officials to refrain from politicised statements which have caused tension in the region.

The Azerbaijani authorities unveiled a list of foreign companies who were engaged in illegal economic activities in Nagorno-Karabakh during the 30 years of effective Armenian control. The report underscored that companies from more than 20 countries functioned in the region, including countries such as the UK, France, Iran, US, Russia, Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands. Those companies invested $470 million in Karabakh carrying out activities such as exploiting gold deposits, illegal production of sturgeon and black caviar, electricity, selling watches and banking, as well as activities in the construction, woodworking and telecommunications sectors. 

According to the results of Azerbaijani tax audits and the conclusion of a forensic accounting examination, grounds for suspicion of illegal entrepreneurial activity were revealed, in the process of which five companies received income in the amount of 306.8 million manat ($180.4 million). The companies which were illegally engaged in the economic activities in Karabakh included Haik Watch and Jewelry Co, Rodino Haskovo JIC, Centro Ceibal, Deccan Gold Mines Ltd, Cosmote Romanian Mobile Telecommunications S.A, and others.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of Armenia’s MFA Anna Naghdalyan commented on the statement of Russia’s MFA on humanitarian contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan (Caucasus Watch reported). “The Armenian side has always supported the humanitarian contacts between the societies of the region, which should be based on mutual respect and tolerance and be aimed at creating mutual trust. Certainly, relevant prerequisites should be established for such programs,” she said. However, Naghdalyan stressed that at this stage the Azerbaijani authorities were not ready for such contacts. She named the issue of POW exchange, as well as the recent statements of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev as an obstacle for trust building between the countries.

It was also reported that the ruling My Step faction in Armenia’s parliament rejected the idea from the opposition Bright Armenia faction that the government should provide assistance to the families of those conscripted and contract servicemen who went missing after 9 November. Aren Mkrtchyan, a member of the parliamentary committee on defense and security issues countered that the Bright Armenia's motion is important from the point of view of social security guarantees, but the government has already passed a set of decisions on providing assistance to the military.