Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan need the consent and willingness of all sides for trilateral contact, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"There is no doubt that such contacts will be necessary at some stage, but for them to be possible, the consent and willingness of the three sides to do so is necessary," the Kremlin spokesman said in response to a related question.
Moscow calls on the parties to the conflict on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border for restraint and advocates compliance with trilateral agreements, Peskov said.
"Indeed, the resumption of hostilities on the [Armenian-Azerbaijani] border is something that was a cause for serious concern yesterday, but thanks to the mediation efforts of the Russian side it was possible to call on the conflicting sides to restrain," the Kremlin spokesman said.
"The Russian side will continue to do so. We still expect that the only way to stabilize the situation is [the] implementation of trilateral agreements," Peskov stressed.
He added that the Kremlin believes that the countries must comply with the commitments they have made, this will be a guarantee of non-resumption of such incidents. The spokesman also recalled that active efforts to stabilize the situation on the eve, "first of all, were made by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin". Specifically, he had a conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Tuesday.
On November 16, intense fighting broke out between Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces in the border regions of Armenia's Syunik region. Yerevan said that Azerbaijani troops launched an offensive deep into the territory of the republic. The state highway connecting the capital with the southern regions of the country and Iran was under threat. Baku blamed Yerevan for the attack, accusing the Armenian armed forces of provocation. According to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Armenian servicemen attacked Azerbaijani posts.
In connection with these events, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held telephone talks with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts Suren Papikyan and Zakir Hasanov in turn. The press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reported that afterwards the Azerbaijani and Armenian defense ministers took measures to stabilize the situation on the border and the situation normalized.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS