Russia Urges Sides to Return to Trilateral Agreements on Karabakh — Ministry

"The most important thing now is to immediately return to compliance with the trilateral agreements signed at the top level in 2020-2022, which lay out all measures for a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue," the ministry said in a statement

© oldhike/TASS

MOSCOW, September 20. /TASS/. Moscow is calling on the sides to return to compliance with the trilateral agreements of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The most important thing now is to immediately return to compliance with the trilateral agreements signed at the top level in 2020-2022, which lay out all measures for a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue," the ministry said in a statement, also urging the sides "to stop armed hostilities and to do everything possible in order to protect the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and defend its interests.".

"Due to a rapid escalation of armed hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh, we strongly call upon the conflicting sides to immediately stop bloodshed, cease hostilities and prevent casualties among the civilian population," the ministry said.

"Currently, the Russian peacekeeping force is assisting the civilian population [of Nagorno-Karabakh], including providing medical aid to them, and is dealing with matters of evacuation," the ministry said.

On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression." Residents of the Armenian capital took to the streets to protest outside the Armenian government building, blaming the country’s leadership and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for the situation.