Russia urges restraint amid escalation of tension between Azerbaijan, Armenia

13 March 2020 13:50 (UTC+04:00)

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By Akbar Mammadov

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has urged restraint amid escalation of situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border and the line of contact between the troops.

“We urge the sides to exercise restraint, refrain from using force and intensify the negotiation process aimed at reaching a settlement by political means. I can assure you that we will continue to monitor this topic and provide prompt comments on this subject”, Maria Zakharova said on March 12.

Russia is a member of the OSCE Minsk Group that has been mediating the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994. Other co-chairing countries are the United States and France

Nagorno-Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s breakaway region which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97