Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated the importance of resolving the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh for the internal security of the Russian Federation, TASS reports.

“For us, for Russia, conflicts of this kind and their settlement are of particular importance, for us these are not empty words, bearing in mind that millions of Armenians and Azerbaijanis live in Russia,” the head of state said on Friday at a meeting on the Russian peacekeeping mission in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Putin noted that Russia has “centuries-old ties” with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“For Russia, the CIS direction is the priority of foreign policy, this is obvious to everyone, it is very important from the economic point of view,” the Russian President assured.

According to him, Russia and the former Soviet republics “have special relations”․ “This is deep cooperation, interchangeability,”