Yerevan /Mediamax/. Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Rashid Nurgaliyev has disclosed certain details of Russia’s proposals for a stage-by-stage settlement of the Karabakh conflict, informally known as "Lavrov’s plan”.

“The essence of these proposals was a sensible compromise of gradual return of territories with support of international peacekeepers and the need to abandon scenarios of use of force. In 2016, Russian MFA presented the concept of the stage-by-stage settlement of the Karabakh conflict. The latest edition of the document was submitted to the sides in June 2019 by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The stage-by-stage plan implied continuity of the principles, indicated in the Madrid and Kazan documents.

The main steps included the return to Azerbaijan of five occupied regions after deployment of international peacekeeping forces in the first stage. At the same time, the plan implied granting Nagorno-Karabakh the rights to form authorities and self-defense forces. Azerbaijan would lift the blockade of NK and restore trading and economic relations,” Nurgaliyev said in the interview to “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”.

“The second stage included the handover of the remaining two regions parallel to the determination of Nagorno-Karabakh’s legal status through a referendum, in accordance with international norms. The plan indicated that there will be a corridor in Lachin region, at the consent of the sides, for transport communications between NK and Armenia. These proposals had been the central theme in the negotiation process. The direct dialogue between Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan continued up until 2020, but unfortunately, the sides did not reach agreement in full,” he said.

Nurgaliyev’s latter remark contradicts the statement of Russian co-chair of the Minsk Group, Igor Popov. Speaking about the Russian proposals on January 13, he said:

“Neither Armenian nor Azerbaijani side rejected these proposals. Although there was no full agreement, the negotiations were regular until 2018, when Armenia put forward a new approach.”