In an interview with TASS on August 4, Denis Gonchar, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Fourth CIS Department, stated that Azerbaijan and Armenia are not ready to conclude a peace treaty on just any terms as certain complex issues are yet to be resolved.

Gonchar added: "The signals that Baku and Yerevan are sending about their commitment to achieving peace as soon as possible don't mean that the parties are ready to accept just any terms. Solutions to a number of difficult issues are yet to be found."

According to the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Fourth CIS Department, ensuring security and respect for the universally recognized rights of the Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region within Azerbaijan’s legal framework is one of the most important issues. "The parties determined the corresponding logic after mutually confirming the effectiveness of the 1991 Alma-Ata Protocols. A mechanism of international support for the implementation of a treaty that would not question the sovereignty and political independence of Armenia and Azerbaijan is also required," Gonchar added.

"Work on an Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty is one of the elements of trilateral agreements made by the president of Russia, the president of Azerbaijan, and the prime minister of Armenia. Russia is actively assisting Baku and Yerevan in efforts to develop this document, using political and diplomatic channels at all levels, with trilateral summits held every year and foreign ministers' meetings held on a regular basis," Gonchar noted.