The latest remarks by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova regarding the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict distort the facts.
Axar.az reports, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada made the statement while commenting on Zakharova's remarks.
He said that the Karabakh region has always been recognized by the international community, including Russia, as an integral part of Azerbaijan:
"The Garabagh region has always been recognized by the international community, including the Russian Federation, as an integral part of Azerbaijan. Therefore, attempts to continuously keep on the agenda the issue of applying CSTO mechanisms to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, which had been under Armenia’s occupation for nearly 30 years, and to associate this with whether or not the Garabagh region had been recognized by Armenia, are not only entirely groundless but also contradict Russia’s own official position regarding Azerbaijan’s Garabagh region."
The Foreign Ministry spokesman added that Azerbaijan restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty in accordance with international law, thereby resolving the former conflict:
"In this context, the practice of commenting on issues pertaining to Russia-Armenia relations by associating it with Azerbaijan should be ended."