SOCHI. Oct 22 (Interfax) - Russia could play a key part in solving the problem of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"The main thing today is to definitively settle the situation on the border [between Armenia and Azerbaijan]. And it is impossible to do anything here without Russia's participation," Putin said at a session of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi on Thursday.
"We probably don't need anyone else here, except the two sides and Russia. These are things that are simple and pragmatic: yes, these are maps, because there are some [maps] in the Russian army's General Staff that show what the boundaries of Soviet socialist republics looked like during the Soviet period," Putin said.
"It's based on these documents that we should sit down calmly on both sides. There are things there that also require mutual compromises, like straightening something somewhere and swapping something somewhere else," he said.
Moscow is also mulling a multilateral option for settling this situation, particularly with the OSCE Minsk Group's involvement, Putin said. "We're working on this, including together with our partners. It's important to strive to attain the main goal, namely a security situation and the construction of future relations in a positive vein," he said.
"Thus far, we've been able to attain the goals we've set ourselves, and let's see what happens next," Putin said.
A provision of the trilateral statement between the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia says that the presence of Russia's peacekeeping force in the conflict zone could be extended, Putin said. "But what really matters is that we should build relations between the two countries, and I hope we'll be able to do that," he said.