Putin: Armenia itself recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan
"We had proposed a settlement option in which Karabakh as well as the Kelbajar and Lachin regions would remain under the jurisdiction of Armenia. This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.
"We proposed to reach an agreement with Azerbaijan so that the two regions—Kelbajar and Lachin—as well as the whole of Karabakh would actually remain under the jurisdiction of Armenia. But the leadership of Armenia did not agree with this"
"To our question, ‘what are you going to do?’ they used to answer us: ‘we will fight.’ In the end, everything came to the situation that has been formed now. But it is not only about the results of the last conflict. The thing is that the leadership of Armenia basically recognized Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh. in their statement in Prague.
“Now [Azerbaijani] President Aliyev tells me: ‘you know that Armenia has recognized Karabakh as ours, that the question of the status of Karabakh no longer exists, it has been resolved.’ The leadership of Armenia has publicly announced this, considering the entire territory that existed before 1991 within the framework of the Azerbaijan SSR and noting the number of the territory, which also includes the territory of Karabakh. This happened and it was not our decision. This is the decision of today's leadership of Armenia."