On January 12, commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement that the Armenian side is willing to sign a document on Karabakh based on Russian proposals, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russia’s offer to provide a platform for Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty talks is still on the table.

"Giving an evaluation of the Armenian side's perspective is challenging given how inconsistent official comments from Yerevan are on the same topic. The Armenian Prime Minister discussed his desire to sign a document based on Russian suggestions during the news conference and his preference for some sort of 'complete solution' to the conflict supported by the West," she said.

She asserted that the declaration released after the summit conference in Prague in October 2022, which reflected Yerevan's intention to build on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration in negotiating a peace deal with Baku, profoundly altered the logic of the negotiation process.

"The Alma-Ata Declaration reaffirms the integrity of the boundaries that divided the Soviet Union's republics. The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast was a portion of the Azerbaijan SSR at the time. In the Baku-Yerevan peace process, it is unavoidably difficult to overlook this truth," Zakharova emphasized.

She also noted that on December 23 of last year, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan had agreed to have a conference in Moscow between their foreign ministries to discuss a peace treaty.

"For that, everything had been ready. But it was the Armenian leaders who, at the last moment, canceled the visit of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. This prevented not only the debate of a peace treaty but also the discussion of other urgent matters pertaining to the restoration of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, such as the circumstance surrounding the Lachin corridor," the official added.

"Armenian parties should continue collaborating rather than engaging in scholasticism if they are truly interested in finding solutions to these issues in the framework of the full execution of trilateral agreements at the highest level. The ambassador stated that Russia's offer to serve as a forum for discussions on a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan was still on the table," Zakharova emphasized.