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Kremlin sees no substance to US idea to launch new mission on Karabakh

Dmitry Peskov noted that Moscow keeps in contact "with both Yerevan and Baku, as well as with the ethnic Armenians of Karabakh"

MOSCOW, September 26. /TASS/. The Kremlin has not yet seen any specifics about the US’ idea to set up an international monitoring mission in Karabakh, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"No, we do not see any specifics here yet. And then, there can only be a mission if the Azerbaijani side agrees to this," he said in response to a question about whether there is any communication with Russia, the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, on the topic of a Karabakh settlement.

Peskov added that Moscow keeps in contact "with both Yerevan and Baku, as well as with the ethnic Armenians of Karabakh."

Earlier, the US’ plans to create an international mission for Nagorno-Karabakh, which would monitor that the rights of the region's residents were being ensured, were reported by State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.

On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression."

The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on the parties to the conflict to stop the bloodshed, end hostilities, prevent civilian casualties, and go back to trying to settle the Karabakh issue diplomatically. On September 20, an agreement was reached to cease hostilities, and the next day representatives of Baku and the Karabakh Armenian population met in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh "to discuss reintegration issues." Some Karabakh residents began to leave for Armenian territory on September 24.