On 11 May, at 19:04, the  “Fact Investigation Platform” (Fip.am) published an article entitled “What did Lavrov say about the return of the minefield map? Iravaban.net presented incorrectly”.

We consider it necessary to state that the assertion does not correspond to the reality.

Details: Foreign Ministers of Russia and Azerbaijan Sergey Lavrov and Jeyhun Bayramov spoke at a press conference in Baku on 11 May. During the press conference, the question, “As a mediator in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, what efforts is Russia making to obtain maps of minefields?” was raised. To which Lavrov responded:

«Мы за то, чтобы все вопросы, имеющие гуманитарное значение (от необезвреженных мин гибнут люди), решались максимально оперативно и без каких-либо предварительных условий: возвращение военнопленных и тел погибших, прояснение судьбы пропавших без вести и урегулирование проблем, связанных с «материальными» остатками войны, в данном случае мин».

(“We are for resolving all issues of humanitarian importance (people are dying from unexploded mines) maximally operatively and without any preconditions; return of prisoners of war and bodies of the dead; clarification of the fate of the missing and settlement of problems associated with the “material” remnants of the war, in this case mines.”)

Lavrov also added: «5-6 мая с.г. в Ереване обсуждали этот вопрос. Мне показалось, что у армянского руководства есть понимание необходимости решать эту проблему. Первые предварительные шаги на этом направлении были сделаны. Я о них проинформировал руководство Азербайджана. Рассчитываем, что этот процесс будет существенно ускорен и позволит полностью решить эту проблему». («Ս.թ մայիսի 5-6-ին այս հարցը քննարկվել է Երևանում: Ինձ թվում է, որ Հայաստանի ղեկավարությունը հասկանում է այս խնդիրը լուծելու անհրաժեշտությունը: Այս ուղղությամբ առաջին նախնական քայլերը կատարվել են: Դրանց մասին ես տեղեկացրել եմ Ադրբեջանի ղեկավարությանը: Հուսով ենք, որ այս գործընթացը զգալիորեն կարագանա և ամբողջովին կլուծի այս խնդիրը»:) (“This issue was discussed in Yerevan on May 5-6. It seems to me that the Armenian leadership understands the need to solve this problem. The first preliminary steps in this direction have been taken. I informed the Azerbaijani leadership about them. We hope that this process will accelerate significantly and completely solve this problem.”).

Hence, it follows, that what was said in our previous publication that “According to Lavrov, the Armenian side is ready to hand over the map of minefields to Baku” corresponds to the reality.

It follows that the mentioned in our previous publication, “According to Lavrov, the Armenian side is ready to hand over the map of minefields to Baku,” corresponds to reality. In more detail, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that in his opinion, ‘the Armenian leadership understands the need to resolve this issue. The first preliminary steps in this direction have been taken.’ Thus, it follows from all these that both the title and the text in the article correspond to reality.

At the same time, it should be noted that Iravaban.net does not claim that the Armenian side will provide those maps. We have published exclusively the conclusion of Sergey Lavrov, whose name is mentioned in the very title of the article.

All this is published on the official website o the Russian Foreign Ministry, the mentioned part of which is presented with a photo as well:

Iravaban.net calls on Fip.am’s colleagues to check the authenticity of the material again and again when publishing such materials next time, before presenting a “mistake” of another media outlet, and to refrain from manipulations.

It should be reminded that in August 2019, Fip.am published an article on another topic, entitled “Manipulation in “Iravaban.net” website.” The matter referred to Iravaban.net’s material “Violations in the Call announced for NGOs to Enter the Anti-Corruption Policy Council: Results for 4 NGOs are Illegitimate”.

Then, in response to the manipulative claims of the fact-investigation platform, we presented our well-founded counter-arguments.