It now appears the Kremlin has found a better way to have its cake and eat it too, by selling copious amounts of deadly weapons to both sides and still ensure that war remains a distant possibility.
If the logic of deterrence holds up and the conflict stays “frozen,” the military-industrial complex benefits from arms sales to both sides and the Kremlin benefits from Armenia’s growing political dependence. Russia can also strengthen its political and economic ties with both countries. At a trilateral meeting in Baku this August, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced the desire for mutually beneficial cooperation, as did Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Russia appears committed to deterring conflict through strategic parity, but if funneling more weapons into the region leads to further outbreaks of violence, or, as Nona Mikhelidze of the Rome-based Istituto Affari Internazionali suggested in a recent commentary, the joint military force intensifies the security dilemma and makes an Azerbaijani invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh more likely, Russia can step in and ensure the next peace agreement suits its purposes first and foremost.
https://intpolicydigest.org/2016/12/07/russia-s-double-dealing-armenia-azerbaijan/