MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. Moscow held a routine exchange of opinions on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh with Brussels and Washington at the latter parties’ request during a separate meeting of representatives before the situation in the disputed South Caucasus enclave escalated, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova disclosed.
"There is nothing classified there. This was a routine exchange of opinions. Yet we will see how the West will present it all and then their initial goals will become evident," the diplomat said, replying to a request from TASS to comment on media claims that secret talks on Karabakh between Russia, the EU and US were held in Istanbul on September 17, several days prior to the latest escalation in the mountainous region.
According to Zakharova, "if now the story of this meeting will be played up in the Western media as provocative, this means that the US and EU’s goal was precisely to stir up another incitement."
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 called upon 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, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that an agreement was reached with the participation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to suspend anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh. On September 21, in the Azerbaijani town of Yevlakh, an initial meeting was held between representatives of Azerbaijan and Karabakh’s Armenian residents in order "to discuss the issues of reintegration."
On September 28, Samvel Shahramanyan, president of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) signed a decree dissolving the unrecognized state effective January 1, 2024. The local ethnic Armenian population has been advised to consider the reintegration proposals being put forward by Baku and decide for themselves whether to remain or to relocate.