The status of Nagorno-Karabakh was deliberately not mentioned in the joint statement signed by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on November 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference on Monday, January 18.

According to him, "now is not the best time to bring up the topic of Karabakh's status."

"The territory where Russian peacekeepers have been deployed is the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. Now details concerning the organization of transport links, the supply of the zone of responsibility of the peacekeepers, the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians are being worked out. 50,000 Armenians have already returned [to Karabakh] from Armenia," Lavrov said

The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will also engage in the determination of the status of Karabakh: "They have now resumed their contacts with the parties, they are going to visit the region again."

The diplomat added that discussing the status of Nagorno-Karabakh will be possible in the future, but it would be premature at the moment.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev on November 9 signed a statement to end the war in Karabakh after almost 45 days. Under the deal, the Armenian side has returned all the seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, having lost a part of Karabakh itself in hostilities.