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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

Kremlin voices cautious optimism about Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

According to Vladimir Putin's press secretary, the Russian Foreign Ministry is doing its best to promote the settlement of the conflict

© EPA/VAHRAM BAGHDASARYAN/PHOTOLURE

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. The Kremlin hopes there are grounds for cautious optimism about the prospects of settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian president’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"We would like to hope there are grounds for cautious optimism that it [the Vienna meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents] will promote sustainable truce," he told journalists.

He said the Russian Foreign Ministry is doing its best to promote the settlement of the conflict.

The situation along the contact line of conflicting sides in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan, deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2 when fierce clashes began. The parties to the conflict accused each other of violating the truce. At a meeting of chiefs of General Staff of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Moscow an agreement was reached on the ceasefire from noon local time (0800GMT) on April 5. Since then, the sides have reported ceasefire violations along the contact line.

The participants of talks on Nagorno-Karabakh in Vienna on Monday involving the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia and mediated by the foreign ministers from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries (Russia, the United States and France) agreed to observe ceasefire in the region in compliance with the 1994-1995 accords. The parties to the conflict also agreed to complete as soon as possible the work on an OSCE tool on investigating incidents on the contact line.

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Foreign policy Nagorno-Karabakh

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