Moscow to continue efforts to assist Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement - Peskov

ST. PETERSBURG, April 7. /TASS/. Moscow ill continue its efforts to assist the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s peaceful settlement, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday. "Certainly, this time again very prompt and major efforts have been exerted with a view to stopping the fire," he said. "These Russia’s efforts have been welcomed by the parties concerned. Of course, Moscow will continue its consistent policy." The Kremlin official said that Russia as a co-chair of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has been exerting major efforts since the beginning of the conflict for ensure conditions for the peaceful settlement. "Russia maintains good, partnership relations both with Yerevan and Baku, as well as uses these relations for the creation of the mentioned conditions working on a bilateral basis, as well as within the framework of international mechanisms," Peskov said. On Thursday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev went on a trip on the Yerevan-Baku route. During two days the Russian Cabinet head plans talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents and government heads. The situation along the line of contact in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2, fierce clashes began. The parties to the conflict accused each other of violating the truce. According to the UN data as of April 4 in the morning, at least 33 people were killed and more than 200 wounded as a results of the armed clashes. The Defense Ministries of Armenia and Azerbaijan announced the cessation of hostilities starting 11:00, Moscow time, on April 5. Talks on Nagorno-Karabakh have been held on the basis of the so-called Madrid Principles suggested by co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the United States - in December 2007 in the Spanish capital. They include three key principles written in the Helsinki Final Act: refraining from the threat or use of force, territorial integrity and the right to self-determination. Nagorno-Karabakh sought independence from Azerbaijan at the end of the 1980s, which resulted in a war between Azerbaijan and Armenia that claimed the lives of 25,000-30,000 people between 1988 and 1994. Since then, the territory has been controlled by Armenia. Read more