Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has slammed the activity of the Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists in a Facebook post today, on July 22.
"I cannot understand the stand of some (not all, of course) journalists from Armenia and Azerbaijan. Do you want to overcome the conflict or you seek to aggravate it even more by inventing news at your convenience? It is dangerous. At first, some journalists at a briefing asked a question about the situation in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey in the way that their question sounded like a political manifesto. I had to break that monologue. Then some other journalists started modeling a sensation from my reply saying that Moscow allegedly wants to involve Ankara into the Karabakh peace process. Don't you feel ashamed by acting so at such moment when there is a true chance to make a progress? Why do you do it? Aren't so many years and so many victims an argument for you to display a responsible approach? How long will this information disorder and puzzle-making of 'favorable words' continue?" Zakharov writes.
In this light, she reminded everyone who seeks to spread misinformation and destabilize the situation with the Karabakh peace process by inventing news that there are international mechanisms for settlement of the Karabakh conflict and there is the OSCE Minsk Group. Zakharova added that no one has banned bilateral contacts, within the frames which every country can discuss the aspects of its domestic and foreign policy. The question is how constructive are the efforts by the countries that are not a party to the conflict, she writes. "A big request - do not yield to provocations, including to the information ones," the Russian Foreign Ministry representatives asks.
At the July 21 press briefing, Maria Zakharova commented on the possibility of Turkey's joining the Karabakh peace process saying that any constructive contribution can be considered in view of constructive cooperation: "If a country or its official representatives have something positive to add to the process, there can be no problems with it, I think. However, I am speaking about exclusively constructive contribution."