In a joint statement, the heads of foreign ministries of Russia, France and the United States condemned the dangerous escalation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and once again called on the parties to an immediate ceasefire. The document was published on Monday on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
"Recalling the October 1, 2020 statement of the Heads of State of the three Co-Chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, the Ministers call once again upon the conflicting parties to accept an immediate and unconditional ceasefire," the statement reads. The parties "condemn in the strongest terms the unprecedented and dangerous escalation of violence in and outside of the Nagorno-Karabakh zone."
The Ministers stressed that recent attacks allegedly targeting civilian centres – both along the line of contact and on the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia outside the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone – and the disproportionate nature of such attacks constitute an unacceptable threat to the stability of the region. In this regard, Russia, France and the USA are determined to exercise fully their mandate, entrusted to them by the OSCE and the international community
"In accordance with this mandate, they [the co-chair countries] they will continue to advance their engagement with the sides, and urge them to commit now to resuming the settlement process on the basis of existing core principles and relevant international documents well-known by both parties," the statement concludes.
The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh escalated on September 27, with fighting on the line of contact. Martial law has been introduced in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and mobilization has been announced. The sides report the killed and wounded, including civilians.
Baku and Yerevan have been contesting Nagorno-Karabakh since February 1988, when the region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijani SSR. During the 1992-1994 armed conflict, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts. Since 1992, negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the conflict have been going on within the OSCE Minsk Group led by the three co-chairs - Russia, the United States and France.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Valery Sharifulin / TASS
Based on materials from TASS