The statement comes as the EU hosts talks between leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Brussels.
Azerbaijan has accused Russia and Armenia of breaching a ceasefire agreement in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave as Moscow offered to host new peace talks, while the European Union urged Baku and Yerevan to refrain from “violence and harsh rhetoric”.
The Azerbaijani government’s criticism of Russia came Saturday as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met in Brussels for talks to resolve their decades-long dispute over control of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, neighbors have fought two wars over the small mountain enclave, which is part of Azerbaijan but is home to around 120,000 ethnic Armenians.
In 2020, after heavy fighting and a Russian-brokered ceasefire, Azerbaijan took over areas that had been controlled by ethnic Armenians in and around the mountain enclave.
Baku and Yerevan have since been discussing a peace deal, in which Russia is also urging it to retain a leading role, and in which the two countries agree on borders, settle differences over the enclave and freeze ties again.
However, tensions rose again when Azerbaijan blocked and closed the only land link between Karabakh and Armenia earlier this week.
She blamed “smuggling” by aid organizations for the closure of the Lachin corridor, which is patrolled by Russian peacekeepers.
Russia said on Saturday it was ready to organize a tripartite meeting with Armenia and Azerbaijan at foreign ministerial level, which could be followed by a Moscow summit to sign a peace treaty.
An integral part of this pact should be “reliable and clear guarantees for the rights and security of the Armenians of Karabakh” and the implementation of previous agreements between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, it said.
Baku — which insists that security guarantees for the Armenian population of Karabakh should be provided at the national level rather than through an international mechanism — reacted angrily.
It said that Russia’s statement “causes disappointment and misunderstanding” and contradicts Moscow’s statements of support for Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
“The Russian side has not fully implemented the agreement within its obligations,” it said, adding that Moscow “did nothing to prevent” Yerevan’s military supplies from reaching the separatist forces in Karabakh.
Meanwhile in Brussels, European Council President Charles Michel, who mediated the talks between the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, said their exchanges had been “frank, honest and substantive”.
“Real progress depends on the next steps that need to be taken in the near future. “The priority should be to stop violence and harsh rhetoric in order to create a suitable environment for peace and normalization talks,” Michel said.
“The local population needs reassurances, especially about their rights and safety,” he added.
Michel said he also expressed the EU’s encouragement for Azerbaijan to speak directly with the Karabakh Armenians to build trust between the parties.
It was not clear how Aliyev would react when he and Pashinyan left without informing reporters.
The European Council President said he intends to organize a new meeting between Aliyev and Pashinyan in Brussels and another in October in Spain with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Alongside the EU, the United States has also been pushing the sides to reach a peace deal.
Russia, the traditional power broker in the region, is distracted by the war in Ukraine and is in danger of losing its influence.