MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned about the sharp escalation of tensions and the beginning of military hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We are concerned by the sharp escalation of tensions and the onset of military combat," he said, commenting on the situation in the region

The Kremlin official noted that Russia considers the safety of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh to be a key issue. "This is, of course, about Armenian residents. All necessary measures need to be taken here," he stressed.

Peskov said that amid the exacerbated situation, Moscow is in touch both with Baku and Yerevan, above all, via military officials, but also along other tracks. According to him, currently the Russian military is working on "directing the settlement process toward the political and diplomatic track."

"For this, the only substantive base is formed by the trilateral documents from two and three years ago signed by Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. So we are urging everyone to follow the provisions of these documents. Naturally, taking the new circumstances into account, meaning the Armenian side recognizing Azerbaijan’s territory within the 1991 borders," Putin’s press secretary added.

As he explained, "intense work is currently underway." "The main thing is to ensure the safety of people in Karabakh and to prevent human casualties. Regrettably, through reading the news, we see that some such casualties have already happened. And the most important thing is to convince both Yerevan and Baku to reject using force and sit down at the negotiating table," he concluded.

History of conflict

The conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union’s 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 combat for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them.

Renewed clashes between Azerbaijan and Armenia erupted in the disputed region in September 2020. On November 9, 2020, 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. Russian peacekeepers were deployed to the region ensuring the functioning of humanitarian corridors. On May 17, 2023, at the Council of Europe Summit in Reykjav·k, Pashinyan said that Yerevan recognizes Azerbaijan’s sovereignty within its borders, which includes Nagorno-Karabakh.