The clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia on the border are a provocation aimed at drawing Russia and the CSTO into the conflict and creating a hotbed for concern, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Moscow Polad Bülbüloğlu said.
The diplomat drew attention to the fact that the incident took place not near Nagorno-Karabakh, where the conflict situation had persisted for decades, but on the border of states. "Most likely, this is a provocation... My personal opinion is that this is done in order to draw the CSTO, and, of course, first of all, Russia, into this conflict. Because it is clear that Azerbaijan has bilateral partnership relations with all CSTO members, and we must take into account that Azerbaijan has quite strong economic ties with these countries," the Ambassador said, noting that it is unlikely that a soldier from a CSTO member country "will shoot an Azerbaijani soldier, well, of course, if only at gunpoint."
Therefore, as Bülbüloğlu noted, it was clear that Russia was the main player here. "And it is clear that they want to create a conflict situation in order to interfere with the CSTO in this process. Naturally, Azerbaijan will submit all the necessary documents to the CSTO," he stressed. "I think the local task is to raise the CSTO, primarily Russia, and the global task is to create another hotbed around the perimeter of Russia that would worry the Russian Federation," the diplomat said.
Referring to the connection of the current situation with the situation in Karabakh, Bülbüloğlu noted that "as long as the army of a foreign state is on the territory of Azerbaijan, such conflicts are inevitable". According to the diplomat, "when armed people stand face to face, everything can happen: from accidents to planned actions."
Azerbaijan's Ambassador said Russia's ability to reconcile Baku and Yerevan
Russia is the moderator who can resolve the conflict between Baku and Yerevan, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Moscow Polad Bülbüloğlu said.
The day before, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held telephone talks with colleagues from Yerevan and Baku, calling on them to immediately cease fire and show restraint, taking into account the commitments made.
"Yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan the whole day was in the negotiation process, yesterday called Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov. We also had a conversation with the Armenian side... Russia is the moderator who can both calm the situation and resolve the conflict, " the diplomat said.
On Sunday, the clash took place on the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia - the Tovuz region bordering Georgia and the Tavush region, respectively - a few hundred kilometers from the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh, where the situation is now calm. In the place of attacks, there are combat posts stationed near the village of Movses.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced that the Armenian military fired on its positions. The Armenian Defense Ministry reported that the Azerbaijani military tried to capture the Armenian stronghold with the support of artillery. According to Baku, four Azerbaijani soldiers were killed. The Armenian side stated that two policemen and three soldiers were injured, but there were no fatalities. On Monday, the attacks continued, in particular, Yerevan said that Baku shelled the territory of Armenia with a frequency of 15-20 minutes. Azerbaijan and Armenia blame each other for the attacks. The Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and is ready to assist the parties to stabilize the situation.
The conflict in Karabakh began in February 1988, when the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous region announced its secession from the Azerbaijani SSR. During the armed conflict in 1992-1994, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. Since 1992, negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the conflict have been held within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, led by three co - chairs-Russia, the United States and France.
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Photo: Vyacheslav Prokofiev / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti, TASS