MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Mohammad Javad Zarif have stressed the inadmissibility of involving militants from Syria and Libya into the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday after their telephone conversation.
"The sides expressed Moscow’s and Teheran’s serious concern over the unprecedented escalation in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the ministry said. "They stressed the danger of involvement of radical militants of illegal armed group from Syria and Libya."
The ministers agreed that there are no alternatives to the diplomatic settlement, which should begin with an unconditional ceasefire.
"Lavrov pointed to Russia’s intensive efforts, both in the national capacity and as one of the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, towards the soonest establishment of peace in the region. The ministers once again stressed the major role of Azerbaijan’s and Armenia’s neighboring nations," the ministry said.
The ministers agreed to continue contacts.
Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin said on Tuesday that intelligence data indicate that mercenaries from international terrorist organizations who are fighting in the Middle East are being pulled to the conflict zone in Nagorno-Karabakh. He expressed concern that the South Caucasus may turn into a stronghold of international terrorists.
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The area experienced flare-ups of violence in the summer of 2014, in April 2016 and this past July. Azerbaijan and Armenia have imposed martial law and launched mobilization efforts. Both parties to the conflict have reported casualties, among them civilians.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs - Russia, France and the United States.