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Armenia–Azerbaijan conflict

Moscow to help Baku, Yerevan arrange meetings on Nagorno-Karabakh — Lavrov

Russia has not seen any provocations against its peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, according to the top diplomat

© AP Photo/Emrah Gurel

MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Moscow will assist Baku and Yerevan in arranging meetings to resolve issues concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with TASS.

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"As for discussing unresolved political issues, I can confirm our readiness as a nation and a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group to facilitate efforts to arrange such meetings as soon as the parties are ready," Lavrov pointed out.

Provocations

Russia has not seen any provocations against its peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an in interview with TASS on Wednesday.

"The situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone tends to be normalizing," Lavrov noted.

"We are glad to see that Baku and Yerevan are determined to meet their commitments and work towards stabilizing the overall situation. I would like to note that the sides showed a high ability to cooperate in terms of ironing out issues emerging on the ground. Russia, in its turn, keeps fulfilling the function of a ceasefire guarantor in a responsible and effective way. No provocations against the Russian peacekeepers have been seen."

Lavrov noted that the only noticeable violation was registered on December 13 in the area of the contact line where there were no Russian peacekeepers.

"Energetic steps taken by our peacekeeping contingent’s command in contacts with the Azerbaijani and Armenian partners made it possible to prevent the escalation after the incident," he said. "We will continue all efforts in order to prevent a ceasefire disruption."

On December 11, a ceasefire violation occurred in the outskirts of Khtsabert and Khin-Tager in the Hadrut district in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku declared an anti-terror operation in the area. Tensions were running high for several days.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted on September 27, with intense battles raging in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict over the disputed territory, 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. On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on a complete ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh starting from November 10. The Russian leader said that Azerbaijan and Armenia would maintain the positions that they had held and Russian peacekeepers would be deployed to the region. However, the statement does not include provisions concerning the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

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