Russia will leave attempts to lay responsibility for the security of Nagorno-Karabakh on third countries to the conscience of the Armenian authorities, Russian Foreign Ministry official representative Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday, March 16.

Her comments came after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Russia is the guarantor of the security of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We consider the statements of the Armenian leadership as a continuation of the line that was taken at the summit in Prague in October 2022 under the auspices of the European Union. Therefore, we leave to the conscience of the Armenian side, I mean the leadership of Armenia, attempts to lay responsibility for the fate of Nagorno-Karabakh on third countries," she said,according to Tass.

Zakharova stressed that Russia's main goal is to achieve peace, stability and overcome differences, but this can only be done within its area of responsibility.

"All the obligations of our country are clearly spelled out. They are spelled out in the trilateral statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia dated November 9, 2020. You just need to open this document and see what obligations our country has and doesn’t have. And everything will become quite simple. Russian peacekeepers are doing everything in their power to prevent escalation and stabilize the situation on the ground, and they are also doing this in their area of responsibility," the diplomat said.

Earlier, at a government meeting, Pashinyan credited Russian peacekeepers for not letting the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh turn into a disaster due to the blocking of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan. At the same time, he added that in 2020 Russia assumed the role of a guarantor of the security of the population and civilian infrastructure of Nagorno-Karabakh.