During a weekly briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova touched upon Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and the recent incident of Azerbaijani aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia.
Based on the statements by representatives of Baku and Yerevan, it becomes clear that the sides have diametrically different evaluations of the situation and blame each other for what happened, and Russia is in contact with Armenia and Azerbaijan in order to move the situation to the peaceful path, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova said today.
Zakharova recalled that yesterday the President of the Russian Federation held phone talks with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, and Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoygu held talks with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, after which the clashes ended in the evening after the mediation efforts.
“We continue the joint efforts to weaken the tension. We call on the sides to show restraint, prevent new incidents and settle all disputes exclusively through the political and diplomatic way. We are ready to continue support to ensure peace and stability in the region. The latest events affirm the importance of the speedy launch of demarcation and the process of delimitation after that.”
As far as the activities of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are concerned, Zakharova reminded the statement of November 15. “The Co-Chairs continue their active mediation efforts. The trio is currently in Vienna to discuss the current situation. Again, we state the importance of the Co-Chairs’ visit to the region,” she said.
Touching upon the possibility of using the Treaty between Armenia and the Russian Federation on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed on August 29, 1997, as well as the mechanisms of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Zakahrova stated that Moscow treats the bilateral and multilateral agreements seriously. “Relevant bilateral consultations are being held. As far as the CSTO is concerned, the CSTO is closely following the current situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.”