Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.22
Trend:
The developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh region showed that it is necessary to resolve this conflict by diplomatic means, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Apr.22 following the meeting with his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan.
As one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia will provide all possible assistance to the parties of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the process of settlement, he added.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.