Yury Ushakov, Russian Presidential Aide (Photo: RIA Novosti/Alexey Druzhinin)

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov has announced that Moscow is not very optimistic in soon settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Ria Novosti reported.

“I wouldn’t say we are very optimistic in soon settlement of the conflict. But we will continue our intractable works with Baku and Yerevan,” Ushakov said.

He refused to reveal details of the talks, mentioning that there are numerous options and offers under discussions. “But for now, I reiterate, there are no grounds for special optimism,” he added.

Touching upon the arms delivery by Russia to Armenia, Ushakov said that Russia is an Armenian ally and has all the rights to deliver the weaponry it has agreed with its Armenian partners. “I think there is nothing strange here for anyone, including for our Azerbaijani partners. As you may know, we deliver weapons to Azerbaijan as well,” Ushakov said.

OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier delivered a speech at the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Steinmeier touched upon the issue of human rights in the area of the Council of Europe.

“We should have an access to the Crimea to assess the situation on-site. We should have such an opportunity for South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh. There must be no “gray zones” in our European Continent in terms of respect for human rights,” Steinmeier said.