BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.29
Trend:
Russia is making vigorous efforts to de-escalate Karabakh conflict as soon as possible, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Mariya Zakharova said at the briefing on Oct. 29, Trend reports.
"Unfortunately, the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone remains difficult. The military confrontation is ongoing. In these conditions, in order to quickly de-escalate the conflict and restart the negotiation process, we continue to make vigorous efforts both in our national capacity and as part of the OSCE Minsk Group," Zakharova said.
According to her, the president of Russia regularly communicates with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan by phone.
The situation around Nagorno Karabakh was also touched upon in the conversations of the Russian leader with the president of Turkey. The Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed it with his French counterpart, she said.
"As it’s known, on October 23 in Washington separate meetings of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan with the US Secretary of State and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs were held, following which the parties confirmed their intentions to resume the humanitarian truce from 8:00 on October 26,” the spokesperson noted.
“Unfortunately, the latest attempt by the world community to stop hostilities within the specified time frame failed. In order to discuss further steps, an agreement was reached on the next meeting in Geneva," added Zakharova.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.
Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.
The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.
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, the 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.