Azernews.Az

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili urged the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to exert maximum efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement of the tensions in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian news agency TASS reported.

Margvelashvili made the statement at an international people's diplomacy forum held within the framework of the NATO Week in Georgia.

"We very much hope that the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan will exert maximum efforts for settling the tense situation by both peaceful and diplomatic means with the active participation in the international community for the conflict's peaceful resolution," he said.

On the night of Apr. 2, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from Armenians, who were using large-caliber weapons, mortars, grenade launchers and guns. Azerbaijani settlements near the frontline densely populated by civilians were shelled as well.

There are killed and injured among the Azerbaijani civilians as a result of the shelling.

More than 370 Armenian soldiers, 12 tanks, 12 armored vehicles and 15 artillery guns have been destroyed from April 2 until today.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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