BAKU, April 6. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev highly appreciates Russia’s initiative to restore the ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he said at a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday.
"Russia has again come forward with an initiative and brokered ceasefire agreements reached by the sides," Aliyev said, pointing out that the recent developments "along the contact line correlated with human deaths, certainly, have raised concerns in the world and in the region as well."
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Azerbaijan’s head of state noted that his country was set to continue negotiations with the aim to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"We are focused on continuation of the talks. Azerbaijan is committed to the negotiation process and peaceful settlement of the conflict on the basis of international law," Aliyev said, adding "it is the only way not to allow escalation."
The situation along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone deteriorated dramatically overnight on April 2, fierce clashes began. The parties to the conflict accused each other of violating the truce.
The conflict between neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up but was mainly populated by Armenians, broke out in the late 1980s.
In 1991-1994, the confrontation spilled over into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and some adjacent territories. Thousands left their homes on both sides in a conflict that killed 30,000. A truce was called between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh republic on one side and Azerbaijan on the other in May 1994.