Russian, Armenian foreign ministers discuss prospects of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Prospects for the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement were in focus of a telephone conversation between Russian and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Edvard Nalbandyan, the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday. "The two ministers discussed topical issues of the bilateral and international agenda and exchanged views on the prospects of the process of Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and observance of the ceasefire regime in the conflict zone," the ministry said. The situation along the line of engagement of the conflicting parties in Nagorno-Karabakh deteriorated dramatically overnight to April 2. Following fierce armed clashes at the contact line, the parties to the conflict accused each other of violating truce. On April 5, Russia mediated a meeting between Colonel-General Nadzhmeddin Sadykov, the chief of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces General Staff, and Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, the chief of the Armenian Armed Forces General Staff, that took place in Moscow. The sides agreed to cease the hostilities on the line disengaging the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh. The defense ministries of Azerbaijan and Armenia announced a ceasefire on the contact line as of 12:00 (11:00 Moscow time) the same day. Ever since, the parties occasionally report brief exchanges of fire at the contact line. Read more