Russian ambassador to Azerbaijan believes any parallels between the situation in Crimea and Karabakh to be inappropriate.

“Recent events in Crimea are a unique case related to the situation inside Ukraine. Considering the Kyiv unrest to be a coup d’état and refusing to recognize the legitimacy of new leadership, Crimea’s parliament passed a decision to proclaim independence. In a referendum vote, the majority of the peninsula’s population favored annexation to Russia. Thus, a mistake committed in 1954 by annexing historic Russian lands to another state was fixed,” Vladimir Dorokhin said.

As he further noted, Russia “recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity in the framework of international documents.” “Karabakh is a separate issue that needs to be solved and Russia is actively involved in the process,” he noted.

Commenting on the OSCE Minsk Group activity, the envoy refuted suggestions of a conflict between Russia and the West within the organization. “Probably, diplomats would feel more comfortable were the situation more stabile; the MG, however, continues with its mission. There is no threat of collapse. Opinions differ as to the effectiveness of the Group’s work; still, at present, it’s the only format for the Karabakh conflict settlement. We repeatedly stressed our adherence to the OSCE MG and take every effort to promote solution of the conflict,” Novosti-Azerbaijan quoted the envoy as saying.