Russia states that in recent weeks it has been possible to reduce the tension on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
"In recent weeks, it has been possible to reduce tension in general. Relevant consultations on regulating the border dispute will continue," she said.
Zakharova noted that Russia continues active mediation efforts aimed at de-escalating the situation. "There is close coordination with Baku and Yerevan through the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry and the border services," the diplomat added.
"As a sustainable and long-term solution to the problem, we see the launch of work on the delimitation of the border between the two countries with its subsequent demarcation as soon as possible. We confirm our readiness to provide the most active assistance to this process," concluded the diplomatic representative.
After the end of hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone last fall, when seven regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh went under Baku's control, Armenia's Syunik and Gegharkunik regions started to border with Azerbaijan. The situation there escalated on May 12. Then the Defense Ministry of Armenia said that in order to "correct the border" Azerbaijani armed forces tried to carry out "certain works" in one of the borderline regions of the Syunik region, penetrating 3.5 kilometers deep into the territory of Armenia. According to the ministry, after the measures taken by Armenian units, the Azerbaijani military stopped these works.
Nevertheless, both sides continue to report new incidents from time to time. On May 27, Azerbaijan claimed that six Armenian servicemen were captured while attempting to cross the border for sabotage. The Armenian side confirmed the capture of the servicemen, but stressed that they were engaged in engineering work in the border zone of the Gegharkunik region of Armenia at that time.
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Photo: Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry / TASS
Based on materials from TASS