Moscow reiterated its support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity on Monday in the wake of parliamentary elections in Nagorny Karabakh, a breakaway Azerbaijani region with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population.
The region, which has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan since the late 1980s, elected its 33-seat parliament on Sunday.
"Moscow is not convinced that the peace settlement of the conflict might depend on the results of the Nagorny Karabakh elections," a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, Andrei Nesterenko, said.
Nagorny Karabakh claimed independence from Azerbaijan to join Armenia in 1988. In the early 1990s, a war broke out leaving over 30,000 people dead on both sides. A ceasefire was concluded in 1994, leaving Nagorny Karabakh in Armenian hands.
"Moscow supports the principle of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, as well as other fundamental norms and principles of international law. As you know, we don't recognize Nagorny Karabakh as an independent state," he said.
The conflict is mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, comprising the United States, Russia and France.
"We are convinced that the future status [of Nagorny Karabakh] should be defined without the use of force, as a result of political negotiations between all parties within the framework of the Minsk process," Nesterenko said.
MOSCOW, May 24 (RIA Novosti)
