Russia hopeful about peace treaty between Armenia, Azerbaijan

MOSCOW (AA): The current circumstances make a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia possible in the foreseeable future, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov said representatives of Baku and Yerevan are expected to meet in Moscow at the end of next week to discuss the controversial issues.

He added that there is no “task to finalize” all disputes, “no one rushes into anything,” so it is difficult to predict the exact date of the signing of the peace treaty.

“There is an understanding of the heads of state how to solve this. … Now, circumstances have changed in many ways — conceptually, these changed circumstances allow us to sign a peace treaty in the foreseeable future,” he said.

Turning to the deployment of the Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, the spokesman said Minsk is in “hostile environment,” which demands “further development” of ties with Moscow.

“We know that Belarus is facing very unfriendly, if not even hostile, manifestations from neighboring states. We have heard very, very aggressive statements against Belarus, we have also heard official statements declaring the intention to interfere in the internal affairs of Belarus.

“All this allows us to conclude that Belarus, and indeed, like ourselves, is in a very, very hostile environment. All this requires us to further develop our allied relations, strengthen these relations, which involve various areas, including the further development of relations in the military sphere. That’s what we do,” he said.

Asked to comment on London’s intention to withhold Russia’s financial assets, the official said the UK and other countries, encroaching on Russia’s assets, “must unfreeze them immediately and without conditions.”

“Otherwise, they violate all the rules and regulations of both their domestic legislation and international law,” he stressed.