Kremlin clarifies nature of talks between Russia, West on Artsakh
Russia had certain contact with the West on the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) but the Politico media outlet's characterization of these talks was inaccurate, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, according to TASS.
Politico wrote earlier, citing a senior diplomat and officials from the US and the EU, that representatives of the European Union, the United States and Russia had allegedly held "undisclosed emergency talks" on the situation in Karabakh in Istanbul on September 17, days before tensions flared up again in the region.
"It wasn’t like they described it. There are a lot of inaccuracies and mistakes in the report. Certain contact on the Karabakh issue did take place, but it wasn't about the talks that were described in the article," Peskov pointed out, when asked if the Kremlin could confirm that such negotiations had indeed been held.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in turn, said that Brussels and Washington had contacted Moscow for a meeting on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue before the crisis erupted. The diplomat explained at a briefing on Wednesday that Russia, the US and the EU had held a routine exchange of views on Karabakh.