Russia, together with its OSCE Minsk Group counterparts, is working to resume the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process as soon as possible. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated this an interview with russian "Trud".
Asked how likely it was that the tense would escalate into a full-blown military conflict, Lavrov answered.
"The July 12-16 border conflict became the second (after April 2016) largest breach of the 1994 ceasefire agreement mediated by us. Moreover, for the first time in the last 26 years, high-intensity military clashes with the use of field artillery, grenade launchers and strike drones took place not in Karabakh, but in the part of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The conflict has a large complex of reasons. The basis, of course, is the unresolved Karabakh issue. In addition, the exceptional escalation of public space on both sides of the border".
Lavrov also stressed the geographical factor - the decision of the Armenian side to restore the old border checkpoint, which is located 15 km from the Azerbaijani pipelines.
According to Lavrov, this caused extreme concern of the one side and an unjustified response of the other. As a result, the wheel of confrontation was set in motion with the most unpredictable consequences.
According to Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry has made active mediation efforts to resolve the conflict. On July 13, the Russian Foreign Ministry appealed to the parties to immediately cease fire. Telephone conversations took place with partners from Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to Lavrov, the Armenian and Azerbaijani communities in Russia must realize their responsibility to follow the laws of Russia, to contribute to the creation of an atmosphere that will contribute to the normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan.
"As a result of Russia's active mediation, although not from the first attempt, the ceasefire regime has been established since July 16. The situation was more or less settled in August. Relative calm is maintained at the border and the line of contact. We hope that the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process will be resumed as soon as possible. We are working with our partners in the OSCE Minsk Group to this end", Lavrov said.
