Moscow Welcomes Maintaining Relative Stability in Nagorno-Karabakh - Lavrov

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th November, 2019) Russia welcomes the preservation of relative stability on the contact line in the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh region and the issue of its final status is one of the most difficult to determine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday.

"We welcome the maintaining of relative stability at the border [of Karabakh and Azerbaijan] and the contact line. We believe that a further decrease in tensions could help create an atmosphere favorable to the negotiation process," Lavrov said in an interview with Armenian Mediamax news service.

According to the Russian top diplomat, "leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group's co-chairing countries have repeatedly stated that [Nagorno-Karabakh's] status should be determined through the negotiations by political means, on the basis of legally binding expressions of will."

Lavrov added that the conflicting sides have yet to agree on the organizational aspects and parameters of such work.

In February 1988, the overwhelmingly Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh autonomy expressed will to leave the Soviet Azerbaijani Republic citing its right for self-determination under Soviet law and proclaimed independence in 1991. Azerbaijan, in retaliation, launched an offensive and lost control over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and several other areas around it.

Since 1992, peace in Nagorno-Karabakh has been mediated by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Minsk group. Azerbaijan insists on retaining its territorial integrity, while the interests of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which is not an official party to negotiations, are represented by Armenia. In 1994, a ceasefire agreement was reached. However, occasional shelling and clashes on the border have been ongoing, with a major escalation in April 2016.