MOSCOW, September 28. /TASS/. The humanitarian situation surrounding ethnic Armenians leaving Nagorno-Karabakh is Russia’s number one concern, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said as he urged efforts to provide refugees with normal living conditions.
"What matters most here is that those who made the decision [to leave] be provided with adequate living conditions. That is, the humanitarian aspect of this issue is the thing that worries us the most," he said.
When asked where the blame should be laid for the current situation, Peskov said: "It’s hardly possible to say who is to blame here, because there is no immediate reason behind such actions." "However, people are choosing to leave Karabakh. Some of them, perhaps, choose to do so forever, and others [are leaving] temporarily," the Russian presidential spokesman maintained.
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." Russia 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. A refugee center opened in the city of Goris not far from the border. Thousands of refugees have already arrived there.