Kremlin: Russia is working to return the situation in Karabakh to a peaceful course

The Russian military is now working to return the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process to a political and diplomatic channel, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“First of all, our military is now working to return the settlement process to the political and diplomatic channel. For this, the only substantive basis is the trilateral documents, two or three years ago, which were signed between Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.

Moscow, Peskov emphasized, is concerned about the sharp escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh; now the main thing is to ensure the safety of the civilian population. Russia, through various channels, including the military, is in constant contact with Yerevan and Baku and calls on all parties to follow the provisions of the trilateral agreements.

“Naturally, taking into account new realities, this refers to the fact that the Armenian side recognized the territory of Azerbaijan as of 1991,” Peskov added.

On September 19, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced the start of “anti-terrorist measures” in Nagorno-Karabakh. The military republics claim that the measures are necessary for the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the territory of the region and “restoration of the constitutional order” of Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry condemned Baku’s actions and called them “large-scale aggression.” They stated that the armed forces of the republic and military equipment are not stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that Baku warned Moscow about the “anti-terrorist operation” in Nagorno-Karabakh a few minutes before the start of hostilities. Moscow urges the parties to stop hostilities and return to the path of a political and diplomatic settlement, she added.

Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev later stated that the main tasks of Azerbaijan’s “anti-terrorist measures” in Nagorno-Karabakh are close to being completed.