MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. Russia is calling on Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise restraint in the situation on the border between the two countries, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters on Tuesday.
"We call on both Azerbaijan and Armenia to exercise restraint, strictly observe the ceasefire and, in general, to comply with the well-known trilateral statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 2020, as well as January and November 2021," he said.
He said that Russia is extremely concerned about the escalation of the situation. "Of course, we express our extreme concern over the escalation of the situation in certain areas of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on the night of September 13," Ushakov said.
"We are now in constant and close contact with Baku and Yerevan both diplomatically and militarily, and, of course, given what happened this night, [Russian President] Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] and [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev's conversation in Samarkand will be important," Ushakov said. Both presidents will take part in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which will be held in Samarkand on September 15-16.
"At the request of the Armenian side, a meeting of the CSTO Collective Security Council will be held by video link at approximately 18:30 today. The time is being agreed on at the moment," he said. Ushakov said Armenia’s request was related to "the escalation of the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border."
"The [meeting] will be held behind closed doors, but it is planned that at the end of the meeting, the Armenian chairmanship will instruct the standing committee to inform journalists about the content of the discussion and the decisions taken," Ushakov said. He said the Kremlin could also release information about the meeting.
Ushakov said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had called Putin at night for an urgent "exchange of opinions" about the situation.