Moscow Says It Takes Steps to Ease Escalation between Baku, Yerevan

Moscow / 24.07.20 / Turan: Violations of the ceasefire began to decline, but tension persists. To prevent further escalation, Russia is taking concrete steps within the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as independently. This was announced at a briefing on Thursday by the press secretary of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

“Last week the situation in the conflict zone was considered at the meeting of the Minsk Group, and then at the OSCE Permanent Council in the presence of all the participants of the Organization.

The Minsk Group co-chairs maintain constant contact with the parties. Earlier, their remote meetings were held with the OSCE Chairman-in-Office E. Rama and OSCE Secretary General T. Greminger, and consultations with the UN Secretariat are planned.

A number of statements have been made calling on the parties to show maximum restraint and strictly adhere to the cease-fire regime, including through the Presidential Administration and the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Emergency telephone contacts took place between Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts. This week he discussed the situation with the ambassadors of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Moscow. Interaction is carried out along the lines of military departments.

Yerevan and Baku come up with various initiatives aimed at consolidating the truce and intensifying the negotiation process. We discuss them with the parties. We hope that after the restrictions on international travel are lifted, it will be possible to substantively work out the entire range of issues related to the settlement of the conflict,” she said. -02D-