Russian President Vladimir Putin answered journalists' questions after his speech at the Valdai International Club meeting on October 5.

The head of state was asked for his opinion on the recent statement by EU Council President Charles Michel on Nagorno-Karabakh. The top EU official accused Russia of betraying Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Russian president commented on the European official's statement with a Russian folk saying: "Whose cow would moo, but yours would keep silent." "Western colleagues should think about the fate of Karabakh Armenians and the observance of their rights," Putin pointed out. "If we go back to our European so-called colleagues, they should at least send humanitarian aid to support these unfortunate people, I can't say it any other way, who have left their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh. I think they will do this, but in general, of course, we need to think about their fate in the long term," the head of state said.

Putin recalled that Armenia did not recognize Nagorno-Karabakh's independence, while Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recognized Karabakh as Azerbaijani territory last October. "Russia has been offering Armenia for 15 years to compromise and return five territories around Karabakh to Azerbaijan and keep two districts for itself, but they refused," the Russian president noted. "We, in turn, said, look, Azerbaijan is growing, the economy is developing, it is an oil and gas producing country, it has a population of 10 million. Let's compare potentials. As long as there is such an opportunity, we need to find this compromise," the Russian leader noted.

Moreover, he said that Russia has used all mechanisms in the legal sense to provide humanitarian support in Karabakh. "We used everything we had at our disposal in the legal sense to ensure the humanitarian component. As you know, we had people killed there, by the way, defending the Armenians of Karabakh, our peacekeepers. And we provided humanitarian aid, medical assistance, ensured their exit," the head of state noted. Putin recalled that the mandate of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh was limited only to the function of monitoring compliance with the ceasefire.