UN, September 22. /TASS/. All targets of Azerbaijan’s local anti-terrorist operation in Karabakh have been reached, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said at a meeting of the UN Security Council devoted to the situation in the region.

"Azerbaijan has reached all targets set within anti-terrorist events. If Armenia fulfilled obligations assumed within the three-sided statement they would have been reached long ago peacefully," he noted.

That said, Baku confirms its readiness to foster a sincere dialogue with Yerevan, Bayramov added.

"Despite all serious challenges ongoing due to Armenia’s destructive stance, Azerbaijan reiterates its readiness for a sincere dialogue and talks based on equal and mutual respect of legitimate interests of both countries," he said.

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 end the bloodshed and return to efforts to resolve the issue diplomatically. On September 20, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced that an agreement on the suspension of the anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh had been reached through the mediation of Russia’s peacekeeping mission.