Moscow urges parties to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to observe ceasefire deals

/By Azernews/

By Nazrin Gadimova

Moscow has once again called on the parties to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to follow ceasefire agreements.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made a statement during a joint press conference with his Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter on April 11.

"We are concerned over the escalation of situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone," Lavrov stressed. "We call on the sides to comply with the agreements on an immediate cessation of armed clashes and to prevent the breach of the agreement."

Moscow is interested in seeing positive developments towards an agreement on the settlement of the conflict, he added.

Burkhalter, in turn, stressed that a dialogue is needed to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, adding that this process has not yet been adjusted and it should be dealt with.

“The situation calmed down a little, thanks to Russia's efforts, but, nevertheless, there is a danger of the escalation of the conflict,” the Swiss foreign minister stressed.

Earlier, Lavrov and John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, applauded the ceasefire between the parties to the long lasting conflict.

"The heads of the foreign departments welcomed the agreement reached on a ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and agreed to contribute to the normalization of the situation in the region", Russia's Foreign Ministry reported on April 10.

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. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. 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, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.