The Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement is among Moscow’s foreign policy priorities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after negotiations with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov, TASS reports.

“It’s undeniable that the solution of the conflict has been dragged out for quite a while. Still there’s an actual basis for decision-making. What we need now is for understanding of that basis to be formulated,” the official said.

He further confirmed Russia’s readiness in helping the conflicting sides find a solution. “Yesterday, we took several hours to discuss approaches to the Karabakh settlement taking into consideration many year’s of work conducted in that area, fist of all, in the framework of the OSCE Minks Group,” Lavrov said, adding that he views the situation “with cautious optimism.”